


Rags and Riches

by J1537



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Celebrity, Alternate Universe - College/University, F/M, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Mild Smut, Past Child Abuse, Protective Siblings, Roommates, Sibling Bonding, Slow Burn, Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-14
Updated: 2017-09-05
Packaged: 2018-12-15 05:56:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 25
Words: 35,942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11799825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/J1537/pseuds/J1537
Summary: Times are tough for the Lightwood household. When their mother left them four years ago, Alec and his siblings (Jace and Isabelle) took on the responsibility of raising their younger brother Max and foster brother Rafael. They then took in two strays in Maia and Simon when they didn’t have anywhere else to go. When Alec meets a glamorous stranger he is conflicted about if he has the time/ room in his life to date. When it turns out this stranger is actually the Famous TV and movie star, Magnus Bane, Alec’s world is turned upside down.





	1. Makeshift family

Alec pounded on the boys’ door for the fifth time that morning. 

“Rafael, Max if you don’t get up right now you are going to be late! I can’t have the school calling again. Please!” Alec yells exasperatedly.

He hears a muffled “coming” and takes that as his cue to hurry to the kitchen to finish making the boys lunches.

Jace and Maia are sitting at the kitchen bench eating cereal, Maia engrossed in a book and Jace playing candy crush.

“Fuck, who ate the rest of the bread, what am I going to put in their lunches?” Alec says as he rushes around the kitchen trying to find something suitable for the boys to eat. 

He didn’t want to have a repeat of last month when he’d had to send them to school with a can of tuna each. Rafael’s teacher was not happy and Alec had felt extremely guilty.

He finds some leftover spaghetti and decides it will have to do, spooning some in two containers and adding that plus some apples into two paper bags.

“Raf is not going to be happy about that lunch big bro” Izzy says as she comes out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her head.

“I know, but it’s all we have. We have about $80 in the squirrel jar for groceries, so don’t forget to go this afternoon Maia. And use the coupons, they’re in the jar” Alec says.

“Yes please don’t forget Maia, we are running out of everything. I’ve had to use shampoo as soap three days in a row now, three!” Izzy whines.

It amazed Alec that Izzy can still act like a princess with how broke they were. They’d had to have beans on toast for dinner twice last week while waiting for their pay checks to come in. She didn’t complain then, but she’ll complain about soap, Alec muses. 

“BOYS, the bus leaves in two minutes get your butts out here NOW”, Izzy yells, which finally causes Raf and max to kick into gear and come running to the kitchen from their room.

The 12-year-old and 8-year-old look sheepish as they hurry into the kitchen, Max putting on his shoes mid run.

“No time for breakfast, take a banana each” Alec orders, placing the fruit in each boys’ hands, kissing them on the tops of their heads and hurrying them out the front door.

“Bye have fun at school, love you” Alec says

There is a chorus of “bye love you” from Jace, Maia and Izzy” as the boys rush down the stairs to the bus.  
“I’m just waiting for the day when they finally use their alarm the way it’s supposed to be used. I don’t think they’ve been ready in time for school once this whole year” Jace complains.

“What are you complaining about, it’s always me who has to harass them, you’re like the fun brother and I’m always having to be the grouch of the family” Alec replies.

“Not my fault you’re a grump bro, can’t help it that they can’t resist my natural wit and charm”.

“Can you guys shut up, I’m almost finished Pride and Prejudice” Maia says while glaring at her makeshift family.

“Pretty sure that’s like the sixth time you’ve read that Maia, it’s not like you don’t know the ending” Simon chimes in from the couch.

“So not the point Simon, this is my bliss and I will NOT be interrupted again”.

“Good luck with that in this house” Alec exclaims dryly.

He doesn’t think he’s had a moment of quiet in 4 years since his Mom left. 

She had always been a bit of a loose cannon but at least she had never left them for more than a month.

Four years ago that changed when she walked out the door and never came back. 

The last they heard she was in Mexico with some random guy. They only knew this because they had seen a photo on Facebook. 

So since Alec was 18 and Izzy and Jace were 16 and 17, they had been raising their younger brother Max and their foster brother Rafael.

Both Jace and Rafael had been fostered by their mother who only did this good deed for the monthly checks in the mail, which she was still receiving mind you. If Alec told child services that his Mom was gone, there was a possibility that Raf and Max would be taken away from them and he just couldn’t take that chance.

It was also around the time that their Mom left that Maia and Simon moved in with them, when Maia was 16 and Simon was 17.

Simon and Maia had been friends with them for years and so it was only natural for them to move in when Simon got kicked out of home for being pansexual and they found out that Maia had been living in a shelter after running away from her latest foster home.

Ever since then they had become one big dysfunctional family. They had been through some tough times over the years but they always made it through, sometimes by the skin of their teeth.

They lived in a fairly small three-bedroom house in Brooklyn which they rented. They wanted to live in a fairly nice part of town so the boys wouldn’t have to go through what they did growing up. The rent was fairly pricey and required contribution from all the adults.

Alec worked part time at a bookstore nearby. Izzy and Maia both worked at a Vegan café that was just down the road, Jace was a personal trainer and Simon taught guitar lessons and tutored high school and elementary school kids.

They all studied as well which was why they were all so broke. Alec was a law student, Izzy was studying pre-med, Jace was studying exercise science, Maia was studying journalism and Simon was studying accounting.

With college and their jobs, plus the boys they were kept busy at almost all times.

Alec had the day off today, but unfortunately he had to finish an essay for college that was due in a couple of days. 

“I might come with you girls to work today and use the Wi-Fi to work on my essay” Alec tells Izzy and Maia. 

“Good plan big bro, might even be able to sneak you a free sandwich for lunch when Lydia’s not looking” Izzy winks.

“Yum can I come? I dream about that pesto and mushroom sandwich” Jace says wistfully.

“No you’ve got to go to work, you’re the only one of us earning slightly higher than minimum wage, we need you!” Maia says.

“Glad to know that’s the reason I’m appreciated around here, basically just the sugar daddy of the household”

“Don’t get too ahead of yourself, you earn like $3 more than us an hour”, Alec scoffs.

“$3 can buy a lot big bro!” Jace says importantly.

Alec doesn’t argue. He actually is grateful for Jace’s higher wage. It had sometimes been the difference between them eating dinner or not in the past. 

Around 20 minutes later they all finished up breakfast and headed out the door, Izzy, Maia and Alec turning left to walk to the café and Jace turning right to go to the gym he worked at.


	2. Tutu's and Fist Fights

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rafael get's into a fight at school and Alec is STRESSED

It’s around 2pm when Alec finally looks up from his old laptop after finishing off his essay. Sometimes he gets into a zone when he’s writing and forgets about anything else that is going on outside of his writing. 

He barely remembers eating lunch and that was only because Izzy had slammed the plate down on the table he was sitting at and ordered him to “eat. Now”. 

He was packing his bag to get ready to go home so he could do the mountain of laundry that was currently taking up residence in their living room when he heard his phone ringing from his laptop bag. 

He reaches into his bag, thinking that it will be Jace or Simon, but his phone shows that it is a no caller ID number.

“Hello, this is Alec”. 

“Hello, Mr. Lightwood, this is Mr. Turner, Rafael’s Principal. This is still the number that is listed under Rafael’s emergency contact”.

Alec shoots up out of his chair, immediately thinking the worst.

“What’s wrong? Is Raf okay? What happened?” Alec asks in a panicked voice.

“Rafael is fine Mr. Lightwood. I still haven’t been able to get onto your Mother, are you able to give me contact details for her or your father?” Mr. Turner asks in a clipped tone.

“Uh, no sorry our Mother is still away at the moment, me and my siblings are looking after Rafael and his brother until she gets back. What happened?’

“Very well Mr. Lightwood. You will need to come pick up Rafael as soon as possible. He was in a fight at school today. He broke another students’ nose. He has been suspended for 3 days.”

Alec sags with relief that Raf is okay and then immediately feels guilty. Rafael was only 8. He should not be punching people. And this wasn’t the first time that something like this had happened either. 

Rafael had had a tough four years of life before coming to live with the Lightwood’s. His mother was a drug addict and was quite neglectful from what the social worker had told them.

Maryse had not been very nurturing when he’d moved in with the Lightwood’s either. Thankfully Rafael had taken a liking to Isabelle especially when he’d first moved in and then Alec, Jace and even Simon and Maia when they moved in. 

But the scars from his early childhood could still be seen in his behavior today. He was very quiet and he didn’t have many friends at all. His behaviour seemed to be getting worse this year. 

Alec had received 3 calls from his school in the past year, and he was worried it was getting suspicious that their Mother was always conveniently away when they called. 

Raf was a part of their family now, just as much as any of the rest of them. It would tear them apart if he was taken away.

Alec pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath.

“Okay, I will be there in 10 minutes. Thank you for calling” Alec says and ends the call. 

“Alec are you okay” Maia asks as she is on her way back from clearing another table.

“Raf punched a kid in the face. He’s suspended for 3 days; I have to go pick him up now. Can you tell Iz?”

“Omg no Raf. Why would he do that? Yes, I’ll tell Izzy. You better go now. I’ll see you at home”.

Alec hails a cab outside Green Goddess Cafe, inwardly cursing that he would have to spend the money on the fare. He avoided cabs due to their high prices but he didn’t want the school to be even more suspicious than they already were if he was late picking Raf up.

He gets to the school at around 2:30 and hurries in the gates and into the main building. He already knows where to go due to being called in to speak to the principal about two months ago when Rafael had refused to get in the pool during swimming lessons and pushed the coach in the pool when he tried to coax Raf in. 

Alec walks forlornly towards the principal’s office, feeling as though It is him getting into trouble instead of Raf, and in a way it was.

It was his parenting skills that the principal would be questioning. 

Alec sometimes felt like he was in the dark about the right way to go about things. He was only 22 and never would he have thought he and his siblings would be raising a 4-year-old and 8-year-old when Alec had only just turned 18 and his siblings 16 and 17.

His siblings seemed to be able to cope with everything so well, but Alec was constantly stressing that he was letting Max and Raf down.

All he wanted was for them to have a better childhood than he, Jace and Izzy had, but he was beginning to think that the way they were doing things just wasn’t cutting it. 

That’s exactly how Alec felt when he and Raf trudged out of the office thirty minutes later, after a thorough lecture aimed mainly at Alec. 

Apparently Rafael was becoming a “problem for his teacher and the other students” and Alec needs to find an “appropriate punishment” for him to ensure that his “behaviour doesn’t continue”.

It sounded exactly like a thinly veiled threat and Alec was freaking out. 

They did not need any more attention on their family. 

On top of all that, now Raf would be home for the next three days with no one to look after him. None of the others would be able to take them to their work so that means Alec would probably have to take him to the book shop that he worked at tomorrow.

Alec crouches down in the hall outside the office and gets on Raf’s eye level. 

“Raf, why did you do it? You know punching people is not the right thing to do right? If you have a problem with someone then you need to talk to them about it or talk to a teacher.”

Rafael looks down at the floor and gives a little nod, looking like he might burst into tears at any moment.

Not being able to resist his sad face, Alec pulls him into a hug.

“What happened little one? You know you can tell me anything right?” Alec says softly. 

“He said mean things about you and uncle Simon” Raf says quickly, not meeting Alec’s eyes.

“Who said mean things Raf? What mean things did he say?”

“Tommy did. We were playing dress ups and I wanted to wear the tutu so I could be a dancer but then Tommy said I shouldn’t because I’m a boy and I said why not and he said because only gay boys wear dresses and I said well my brother is gay and my uncle Simon likes boys too and they’re the best and then he said that you and Simon are gross so I punched him and it was way harder than I thought it was gonna be and now my hand hurts and I’m sorry” Raf rushed out without taking a single breath, a few tears leaking from the corners of his eyes.

“Woah buddy, it’s okay it’s okay. You know, sometimes people don’t understand when people are different from them. It scares them and they react in anger. Just because Tommy doesn’t understand something it doesn’t mean he is a bad person. The next time something like this happens I want you to calmly explain yourself to them. If that doesn’t work, then either walk away or tell a teacher okay bud?”

Raf nods solemnly and reaches out for another hug. He was always more affectionate when he was in trouble.

Alec lifts Raf up and settles him on his hip. Raf was 8 but he looked six at most, being the smallest in his class. Alec knows he should probably be scolding him for what he did but he can never bring himself to do it when Raf looks at him with those sad eyes. 

Raf had already been through so much in his short life, he didn’t need any more anger or hostility directed towards him.

Alec heads towards the subway with Raf in his arms, getting out his phone to text Maia to get Raf’s favorite dinner tonight.


	3. Gorgeous Thug

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alec takes Raf to work with him and meets a mysterious stranger

The next morning is even more disastrous than the last because Max can’t find the essay that he spent all weekend writing. There are tears. There is yelling. It is chaos.

Somehow Max has ended up blaming Rafael who has now locked himself in the bathroom and won’t come out. Jace is late for work and can’t find one of his shoes. Izzy needs to use the bathroom to get ready for class and is banging on the door trying to get Raf to come out.

The only one who is calm is Maia who has stuck headphones in her ears and is studiously ignoring the building madness around her. 

Alec has tried and failed to tame the beasts that are his siblings for the past hour with little to no success. He has 15 minutes to be out the door to get to work on time. He has to open up shop today so he can’t be late. 

Resigned to his fate, Alec grabs the keys from the kitchen bench and walks out the front door and around the side of the house. He spots the bathroom window and calculates how he can climb through. 

Figuring the only way to get in is by jumping on top of the dumpster, Alec rolls it closer to the window and jumps up onto the closed lid. 

He then uses the key to open the window and climbs through, stepping his feet down onto the sink in their bathroom. 

Raf is understandably shocked to see Alec crawling through the window and looks up at him sheepishly from his place on the bathroom floor.

Alec strides over to the door and unlocks it.

“Out. Now. Shoes on, eat some breakfast, we are going to be late.” Alec orders, not having the time to parent properly this morning. 

Izzy doesn’t pause, rushing into the bathroom and slamming the door shut. 

“I found my shoe, I’ve gonna go. I’ll come pick Raf up from the store after my shift at 1:30. Bye guys love you.” Jace says, slamming the front door on his way out. 

Alec strolls up to Maia and rips the headphones out of her ears.

“What the hell Alec”.

“Help up. Please. Max needs to find his project, we have to leave in ten minutes!” Alec begs.

After a frantic 5-minute search, Rafael is the one to find the project under Max’s bed. 

Alec and Maia breathe a sigh of relief, Maia shoving the essay in Max’s bag and sending him out the door to wait for the bus. 

Alec waves at Maia as she heads to the café for her shift and quickly gathers a notepad and coloring pencils for Raf to use while he is at work with Alec. 

Luckily Raf also loved to read so he would be able to find a book from the children’s section in the store to keep him occupied.

Lavender’s was a tiny second hand bookstore owned by Mr. Johnson who was a sweet man of around 70 years of age. He had named the bookstore after his late wife.

He was a very good boss and was understanding when Alec sometimes had to bring Raf or Max to work with him. 

He even sometimes put books aside that he thought Raf might like, which Alec was extremely grateful for. 

Once Alex had finished getting himself and Raf ready, they headed out the door, thankfully only 5 minutes late.

They walked the short distance to the subway, and rode the 3 stops to Lavender’s in almost complete silence. Raf was still a little grumpy from the mornings’ less than ideal beginning. 

Alec unlocks the store at 9:12. He’s 12 minutes late, which he considers to be a minor miracle after the morning he had.

They step into the store and Alec flicks on the lights. The store is a narrow but long building that is made up of tall stacks of books that almost reach the ceiling and a small wooden desk at the front of the store to the right. This is where the cash register is and where Alec sits when he’s not sorting the books or stacking them. The floor is wooden and covered in strips of carpet. It creaks when you walk on it and has little steps that people often tripped on.

Lavender’s was actually quite popular due to its appeal to Brooklyn’s substantial hipster crowd. It was not uncommon for their customers to be sporting hair several different shades of pastel colors or be covered head to toe in tattoos.

Alec loved working here. Although he wasn’t really a people person per say, he still loved to people watch. Observing the different sorts of customers that came and went was one of his favorite parts of working here. 

The best part though, was obviously the books. Sometimes on slow days he would try and read for as long as possible before a customer came in. His record was two hours and thirteen minutes.

He had been reading The Catcher in the Rye for the first time and got sucked in. He’d had to work overtime to stack the new books that afternoon but it had been worth it. 

Rafael shared the same love of books that Alec did, which Alec loved. 

He watched fondly as Raf took off and disappeared down the row of stacks, most likely to the children’s section where he would stay for at least a couple of hours. There was only one way in and out so Alec could relax, knowing Raf couldn’t get into any trouble.

The day passed fairly quickly with a steady stream of customers coming in and out. At noon Alec flipped the “Be Back in 30 Minutes” sign on the door and went in search of Raf.

Just as Alec suspected, Raf was in the children’s literature section, seated in the large, pink overstuffed armchair with his nose buried in a book. 

Alec peeked behind a bookshelf and noticed that he was reading a Harry Potter book, which he had only recently become obsessed with. He was on the third book already and he had only started reading a couple of weeks ago.

“Hey little one, are you hungry? It’s lunch time” Alec says softly, careful not to startle the reading child.

Raf looks up from his perch on the comfortable chair. 

“Yes! I’m starving. Can we have pumpkin pie and butter beer please?”

Alec lets out a loud laugh.

“Sorry kiddo, it’s ham sandwiches, apple slices and water today. We can make pumpkin pie for Christmas though.”

Rafael looks a little defeated but recovers quickly and follows Alec to the front of the store. 

Alec grabs the food from behind the desk and they set up a picnic on the patch of carpet before the stacks begin.

“So who’s your favorite character in Harry Potter bud?”.

Raf deliberates for a moment.

“I think Hermione is my favorite”. 

“Hermione is very cool, why is she your favorite?”

“Because she’s very smart. She is smarter than Harry and Ron and she reads a lot of books!”

“Just like you. You’re one of the smartest kids in your class. We are all very proud of you. That’s why you have to use you brain when someone is mean to you instead of your fists. Do you think fighting is the right way to solve problems?”

“Umm no?” Raf says quietly. 

“Okay so promise me you won’t use violence again at school? Alec questions.

“Okay” Raf agrees and smiles shyly up at Alec.

Alec’s heart melts just a little as he looks at Raf. He really was a good kid.

Alec’s head snaps up as someone throws open the door to the store and charges inside, a flash of black being the only thing Alec can see as the person runs past Alec and Raf and into the stacks. 

Alec bolts into a standing position and faces the stacks. A man is facing the back of the store with his hands resting on his knees, breathing in and out quickly to catch his breath. 

The man is wearing black jeans and a black t-shirt that hugs his lean and strong back and arms. 

“Ahh excuse me? We are actually closed for the next 15 minute’s sir” Alec says hesitantly, while glancing nervously down at Raf. 

He hopes that this guy isn’t some kind of thug running away from the police or something. 

The man swivels around to answer him and Alec’s stomach does a sort of swoop. 

This man is the most gorgeous criminal Alec has ever seen. He has black shiny hair that is spiked expertly atop his head, stunning Asian features and black eyeliner on his dark brown eyes.

He is also wearing several silver necklaces around his neck and rings on his fingers.

Alec’s mouth goes dry.

“Uh..hi. Yeah so I’m on my lunch break at the moment which is why we are closed. I’m going to reopen soon if you want to uh come back” Alec stutters.

“Sorry about just barging in, I just ran into a bit of an incident outside and need a place to hide for a moment or two if that is alright? Nothing sketchy I swear”. Mystery man says with a flirty wink and Alec almost falls over.

“Oh umm okay, yeah sure.” Alec says immediately, abandoning all logic as he looks and the beautiful man with the confident smile staring back at him. He wonders what he has gotten himself into.


	4. Raf and Raph

“So umm why do you need to hide? You aren’t hiding from police are you?” Alec asks nervously.

“Do I look like a criminal to you?” Magnus queries, dodging the question.

“Umm no?” Alec replies 

“And who’s this little guy?” Magnus asks, smiling sweetly down at Raf who had been watching the exchange suspiciously.

“That’s my brother Rafael”

“Hello Rafael! I have a friend who shares your name. He is quite grumpy but we love him all the same” Magnus says with a wink, eliciting a small smile from Raf.

“What are you reading darling?” Magnus directs at Raf.

“Harry Potter”.

“Oh good choice darling. It’s was definitely one of my favourites as a..”

Magnus is cut off by the ringing of his phone. He answers the call immediately.

“Raphael hi, I’ve just met a miniature version of you…oh calm down I just had to get away for a moment. Okay. Okay. Yes, I’ll meet you outside. Okay see you soon” Magnus says and ends the call.

“Well as delightful as it has been meeting you both I must be on my way now. Happy reading little Rafael and I hope I see you around one day…what’s your name handsome?” Magnus asks Alec flirtily. 

Alec immediately goes a dark shade of red.

“Alexander. Uh just Alec actually. No one calls me Alexander”.

“Well it was lovely to meet you Alexander” Magnus says, while striding to the door and leaving. 

Alec stands staring at the now closed door, a million questions running through his mind.

What was that man hiding from? What was his name? Had he actually been flirting with Alec?

He decides that there’s no point wasting time thinking about a man that he will most likely never see again. So he gets back to work stacking some new arrivals on the shelves.

Which is what he’s doing when Jace arrives to pick up Raf a couple of hours later. 

After Jace and Raf left the flow of customer’s increased and Alec is flat out helping people find books and ringing up purchases. 

It’s 5:15 by the time he can leave, so he closes up the store and heads out to walk home.

At home he is met with another drama: the power has been shut off because Jace forgot to pay the bill. 

He promises to sort it out tomorrow and they end up splashing out and ordering pizza, building a fort out of sheets and pillows and having a pizza party in the lounge room.

Although it’s not an ideal situation, it actually ends up being a fun night, Max and Raf enjoying it the most.


	5. Broken arms and coincidences

The rest of the week passes without any major incidents, the older siblings having to juggle Rafael around for the remainder of his suspension. 

He even had to come with Alec to class on Friday morning when none of the others could take him.

Alec had gotten some weird looks bringing the 8-year-old to an international law lecture. 

But alas, the peaceful nature of the end of the week was bound not to last as was the law of the lightwood household. 

Alec had just been turning the key in the lock on the front door after coming home from a long day at work when he got a call from Max’s basketball coach. 

Apparently Max had been knocked over during practice and had broken his arm.

Isabelle and Jace weren’t even surprised when Alec opened the front door, yelled 

“Going to pick Max up and take him to the hospital. Broken arm” and slammed the front door shut on his way out.

That kid was constantly in the wars. This was the third time that he had broken his arm. Other highlights included splitting his chin open on three separate occasions, spraining his ankle at least twice and cracking his head open once almost causing Izzy to go into cardiac arrest when she found him bleeding on the floor of the bathroom. 

So the white walls and blue plastic chairs of hospital waiting room were quite familiar to Alec, where he now sat with Max asleep against him, his broken arm in a sling and cradled to his chest.

It was 10pm, they had been there for around 4 hours. There were a lot of accidents tonight, which Alec anticipated as it was a Friday night in New York City. 

Alec is absentmindedly stoking Max’s hair and thinking about how they are going to have to deplete their emergency savings again to pay for Max’s medical bills when he hears a surprised “Alexander?”

Alec looks up in surprise and see’s the guy that used the bookstore as a hideout the other day. 

“Oh uh hi…what are you doing here?” Alec asks 

“My co-worker had an accident at work and needs to get some stitches in her leg. What about you”? the man asks.

“My little brother broke his arm playing basketball” Alec says while glancing down at the still asleep Max.

The man takes a seat next to Alec.

“You are quite the model brother Alexander, taking the little one to work with you the other day and now spending your Friday night in the hospital with this one. How many siblings do you have?”

“Uh thanks I kind of have no choice. I have 4 siblings and two others that are pretty much siblings that live with me”.

“That must be one crazy household”.

“You have no idea” Alec replies 

“I never actually got your name” Alec realises aloud.

The man hesitates.

“It’s Magnus”. The guy says, and then pauses as if waiting for something. 

“Cool name” Alec replies awkwardly, not knowing what to say.

“Thank you Alexander, I very much like your name as well”. 

And Alec has to admit, his full name does sound nice coming from Magnus’ lips.

“Well Alexander, I think I’d better go check on my friend, she never was good with needles. But I feel like I should get your number. It seems like a big coincidence for us to run into each other twice like this. Maybe it’s fate” Magnus says with a smirk.

“Oh. Yeah okay” Alec replies, a blush spreading over his cheeks as he hands over his phone for Magnus to put his number in. 

After Magnus types something into his phone he hears a text tone, guessing that Magnus texted himself with Alec’s phone. 

“Well Alexander, it was lovely seeing your pretty face again, even if it’s not under the best of circumstances. I hope your brother gets patched up and is back to playing basketball in no time” Magnus says kindly. 

“Yeah, I hope your friend is okay too”.

“Thank you. Until next time Alexander”. Magnus says as he sashays off. That is the only word Alec can use to describe the graceful but sassy way that Magnus walks. 

Alec feels like he is developing a crush on this complete stranger that he has only seen for a total of about 10 minutes. That can’t be normal. He doesn’t know anything about this man, he could very well be a criminal for all Alec knew.

He ponders what the elusive Magnus really might do while he waits for another hour or so for Max’s name to be called.

They are finally seen at around 11. It turns out that Max had a hairline fracture in his wrist and he would have to wear a cast for the next 6-8 weeks. Nothing new for him. He was already contemplating what he would draw on the cast.

They didn’t make it home until after 1am. Alec was exhausted.

He finds Izzy asleep on the couch with Raf laying on her when they get home. Alec smiles at the adorable sight and lays a blanket down over them before heading to his long awaited bed.


	6. Vomit buckets and text messages

Alec had been having a suspiciously good week. Rafael was back at school, Alec had gotten a great mark on the essay that he had turned in last week and there had been no incidents at home since Max’s broken arm.

Alec had not been about to get complacent though. Disaster was to the Lightwoods like moths were to a flame. They were inevitable. 

So it was absolutely no surprise whatsoever when shit hit the fan on Thursday in the form of a stomach virus. 

It started with Max upchucking his entire spaghetti dinner onto the kitchen floor on Wednesday night and by Thursday everyone but Alec had gotten it which was a blessing and a curse at the same time. 

It was a blessing because he wasn’t vomiting every 15 minutes but it was a curse because he was the only one well enough to take care of everyone. 

He’d had to take the day off work to wash sheets, empty vomit buckets, and keep everyone hydrated.

By the afternoon he had gotten sick of going from room to room and had dragged a couple of mattresses onto the lounge room floor so he could keep an eye on all of his siblings at once. 

So there was a pathetic mess of arms and legs strewn all over the mattresses and the couch at the moment. 

“Omg I think I’m gonna…give me the bucket quick quick” Jace says hurriedly, after which can be heard sickening dry reaching and vomit hitting the bucket. 

“Why is this my life? I was supposed to be going on a date tonight but instead I’m stuck here listening to the symphony that is my own and my siblings vomit sounds. Honestly I don’t deserve this” Isabelle says tiredly.

“So you’re saying we do? Thanks Iz, really appreciate the sisterly support” Jace replies from where his head is still bent over the bucket.

“Maybe you’re dodging a bullet missing that date. Meliorn is creepy as fuck. He talks so weirdly. And I’m pretty sure he was hitting on Jace the last time he came to pick you up” Maia says from her position sprawled on the couch

“Yeah but he’s got a really good di…”

“Think of the CHILDREN” Alec cuts in. 

“They are asleep grandpa. I would know, I haven’t been able to move my arm in over an hour. I think it’s gonna have to be amputated from lack of blood flow if Raf doesn’t wake up and get off me soon” Izzy replies. 

“Are you done Jace? I’ll wash out the bucket. God the smell of vomit is never going to be removed from my memory” Alec says.

“Me either” Max pipes up.

“Maxie, you’re awake. How are you feeling? I’ll get you some water” Alec says with concern. 

He had been thinking that he’d have to take Max back to the hospital last night, he had been so ill. But the 12-year-old was starting to look a little bit better.

“Can I have some water too”? Maia asks.

“Me too” Says Izzy”.

“Me three” chimes in Simon from where he’s lying on the couch across from Maia.

“Where would you guys be without me? Dead I think”.

“I’m not even gonna argue with that. Can you get me a wet cloth for my head sweet brother?” Jace adds.

“Fine. Anyone else want anything else? After this I’m sitting down for a bit.”

“Dry toast?” asks Isabelle.

“Flat lemonade?” asks Max

“Okay so water for everyone, toast for Izzy, a wet cloth for Jace and a lemonade for Max coming right up. Slave Alec to the rescue”.

“We love you brother. Without you we would surely perish” Isabelle says with a weak old English accent. 

Alec walks to the kitchen to fulfil all his sibling’s requests, placing all the items on a tray and being careful not to spill anything. 

When he sits down at the dining room table he notices that he has a text from Magnus. They had been texting since last week, mostly just about how their days were and other random questions. Alec still had no clue what Magnus did and made a note to ask him. 

From: Magnus   
Hello Alexander. How is your day today? 

To: Magnus  
(Picture Attachment of his siblings)

To: Magnus   
It is quite frankly horrendous due to the fact that ALL my siblings except for me have a stomach bug. So I’m nurse Alec today. How is your day?

From: Magnus  
You are an amazing brother Alexander. My day is a lot better than yours. I had the day off and spent it shopping with my sister Clary until she got fed up with how long I was taking and abandoned me. 

To: Magnus   
I just got stuck with the job because everyone else got sick. Max is starting to look a little better so I think they will all be better by tomorrow. That sounds nice . Is Clary your only sibling?

From: Magnus   
That she is my dear. But she has more than enough energy to make it seem like I have 5 siblings.

To: Magnus:  
Sometimes I feel like I have about 20 siblings instead of 6. 

From: Magnus  
So I take it you all still live at home? Can’t your parents help out with the sick kids?

Alec hesitates. He hates this part. He hates telling people that they don’t have any parents. Not really. Alec hadn’t considered Marys a mother since she had walked out four years ago. He just hated the pity that people would look at him with. He decides that it is inevitable that Magnus would find out the truth of their living situation eventually and writes a text.

To: Magnus  
Yeah we all live together but our parents don’t live here. I’ve never known my dad and my mom left four years ago.

From: Magnus  
That must be tough, having to look after the young ones, work and go to college. You continue to surprise me Alexander. 

To: Magnus  
It’s a team effort between us all. Good ways I hope?

From: Magnus   
Only good ways my dear.


	7. Scavenger Hunt

“I’ve calculated all our bills and we will be completely out of money and food by tomorrow. We only had $900 in the emergency fund and Max’s broken arm was $2500. We all have less money than usual from having to take off work when we were sick. All of Alec’s, Izzy’s and Maia’s pay for the week has gone into the medical bills. That left us with mine and Jace’s pay. All of Jace’s was spent on the electric bill and all of mine has already been used for groceries and Rafael’s field trip. We are going have about 3 days where we will have no money until Izzy and Maia get paid on Monday and Alec gets paid on Tuesday”. Simon says in a professional tone. 

Sometimes Simon’s accounting studies came in handy when they were budgeting. Not this time though, this time nothing could be done. It was Thursday night and they’d used the last packet of pasta and last jar of pasta sauce to make dinner. Max and Rafael would have to take the leftovers for lunch tomorrow along with the last two apples that had. There was enough bread for the boys to have some toast in the morning but the rest of them would have to go without food tomorrow. It was really depressing. They tried so hard to keep on top of their bills but it was hard when they had unexpected expenses pop up like Max’s broken arm. 

“Well you know what this means right?” Izzy asks from where she is seated at the dining room table along with Alec, Maia, Simon and Jace.

“Scavenger hunt. I’ll check the couch cushions, Alec you check the boys room but be careful not to wake them up we don’t need them worrying about money, I’ll check me, Simon and Alec’s room, Simon can check the bathroom and Maia and Izzy you guys can check your room. Make sure to look in pockets of jeans and jackets” Jace says automatically.

“Okay let’s reconvene in 10 minutes back here” Alec says, heading for the boys’ room. 

They had to do this once every couple of months when money was really tight. It was sometimes surprising the amount of coins that they would find scattered around the house. Once Maia had found a $20 note between the couch cushions. It had saved them from having no food for two days. 

Alec crept into the boys’ room and, careful not to wake them, looked under the rug, in pockets, in their wardrobe and on their desk. In the end all he could find was 80 cents but it was better than nothing. 

When they added up all their findings at the table they had a total of $8.05 which wasn’t much but was at least something. 

The older siblings would have to go without breakfast and lunch tomorrow. Izzy and Maia were going to see if they could take home any leftover bread from the cafe but the baker was usually really good at making just the right amount of food so the chances were slim.

Alec would take the $8 and go to the shops after class tomorrow afternoon and get something dirt cheap for dinner that would last them a couple of days.

By now they were all used to cheap dinners. Pasta, rice, beans and frozen vegetables was a Lightwood family staple at this point. 

Alec goes to bed slightly hungry, knowing that will be his and his siblings constant state for the next 3 days.


	8. Sugar daddy

After class the next day Alec is strolling the aisles of the shopping centre near their house, his stomach grumbling in protest at the lack of food he’s had today.

He decides to get some frozen vegetables and rice and put some soy sauce that they have at home in it. He also got a loaf of cheap white bread and a jar of peanut butter and threw that into his basket. That would have to last them for the weekend. 

He’s just about to turn away from the bakery section when he hears a familiar, “Alexander?”.

Alec’s face drains of blood. He doesn’t want Magnus to see the contents of his basket, it would make it pretty obvious that he was broke. 

Magnus clearly didn’t have a problem with money from the way he dressed. His clothes looked designer and he was always wearing an array of necklaces and rings that looked like they cost more than the contents of Alec’s house. 

Magnus had asked him to dinner the other night and Alec had had to say he was too busy because he wouldn’t be able to afford it.

“Hey stranger, fancy seeing you here” Magnus smiled. 

“Uh h-hi Magnus what are you doing here?” Alec stutters, slowly moving his basket behind his back.”

“My friend Catarina lives on this street. I’m just getting some things that she forgot for the dinner party that she is hosting tonight. What about you? What’s cooking good looking?” Magnus asks, peering around at Alec’s basket. 

“What are you making? Rice and frozen vegetables?” Magnus asks, pulling a face. 

Alec immediately goes red and he looks down at a spot on the linoleum floor. 

“Uhmm yeah actually. We don’t have a lot of money at the moment after Max’s broken arm and the electric bill that just came in. We’ll be fine though. Maia and Izzy get paid on Monday.” Alec says, the shame evident in his voice.  
“You mean to tell me that this is all you have for a family of 7 for the next 2 days? Alec this will not do. Let me buy you some proper groceries!” Magnus replies, looking at Alec with concern in his eyes. 

“NO! Uh I mean no thank you. We will be fine we’re used to it. Thanks for the offer really I appreciate it but I can’t let you do that. Anyways have a nice dinner see you around” Alec smiles and starts to walk away in his haste to get away from his embarrassment. 

Magnus reaches out and grabs Alec’s arm.

“No Alexander wait. Please let me do this. It’s a selfish request really. I won’t enjoy my night if I’m thinking about you and your siblings eating rice and vegetables for dinner. I don’t mind really. I want to” Magnus replies. 

“Magnus it’s really okay. We will be fine” Alec pleads.

“I’m not taking no for an answer, let’s go get a cart. Leave that sad basket behind” Magnus replies, putting a hand on Alec’s back and leading him to the front of the store where the shopping carts are. 

Alec let’s himself be lead to the carts, resigned to his fate. This was so embarrassing. It was his job as the eldest sibling to take care of his family and now Magnus was witness to his failure to do this. 

“Won’t you be late to your dinner party?” Alec asks in an attempt to get Magnus to leave. 

“I’ll be fashionably late. Cat is used to it don’t worry” Magnus says with a wink.

“Now, what would be a good dinner for a family of 7? You’ve got tonight, tomorrow night and Sunday night until your sisters get paid so let’s just get a few things” Magnus says, walking swiftly to the produce section, grabbing various fruits and vegetables and throwing them in the cart. 

As he nears the meat section a teenage girl stops dead in her tracks, stares at Magnus and drops her bag of potatoes, sending them falling to the floor. 

Magnus immediately drops to her feet and helps the girl pick them up.

“There you go dear, have a nice day!” He smiles at her and walks towards the meat section, piling mince, lamb chops, a whole chicken, a package of hot dogs and a rack of lamb in the cart. 

That was weird, Alec thought. Maybe the girl was reacting to Magnus’s outfit. He was wearing a shirt that had about 3 buttons done up, exposing his whole glorious chest. 

Alec brushes the thought aside and watches in horror as Magnus adds milk, cheese, pasta, rice, noodles, a variety of sauces and spices, bread and eggs into the cart. He is just about to add 2 containers of ice cream into the cart when Alec stops him. 

“Magnus, please. This is too much. We only need food for 2 and a half days. This will last us a week” Alec says. 

“Nonsense. I know how much kids and young adults can eat. I bet it will be gone in 3 days” Magnus laughs. 

As Magnus walks to the self-checkout, a young couple point at Magnus and whisper furiously to each other, sneaking glances up at him. 

Alec wonders what is going on with people today. This was Brooklyn; Magnus was hardly the most unusually dressed person around. 

Alec is pulled from his train of thought when Magnus asks him to help ring up the purchases.

He doesn’t even blink an eye when the total comes to $314.80.

“Magnus this is really too much. I’m going to pay you back I promise.”

“I will personally fight you if you try to pay me back Alexander. Just accept this graciously and enjoy the look on your siblings faces when they see the haul you will be bringing home” Magnus replies.

Alec agrees, already thinking of ways that we can pay Magnus back. Maybe he could take him to dinner or something. But he guessed Magnus was the type of guy who went to expensive restaurants from the way he just spent over $300 on a relative stranger. 

“Well thank you so much Magnus, this is really so nice of you. Really. It means a lot. I hope I can pay you back in some way”. 

“Why don’t you just accept my request for dinner next time? I’ll take that as payment. I was wounded when you rejected me last week. Truly wounded.” Magnus jokes, hailing a cab outside the store. 

“Oh it’s okay I don’t need a cab, I can walk.”

“Alexander you are not walking home holding 8 shopping bags. Here hop in” he says, holding the door open for Alec. 

He goes to the other side and puts the rest of the shopping bags on the seat and hands Alec a $20 note for the cab. 

Alec accepts it, only because his $8 probably won’t pay for the fare and he doesn’t want to ride and ditch. 

“Thanks so much Magnus. Have a nice time at dinner” Alec says.

“You’re very welcome my dear. Enjoy a nice night with your family” he says, blowing a kiss to Alec as the cab speeds off.

When Alec gets home, Izzy’s jaw almost hits the floor. 

“Omg Alec where did you get all this food”, she says, rushing over to the kitchen bench where Alec has placed the groceries. 

“Did you rob the grocery store? God times are tough but I don’t want you going to jail!” she screeches anxiously. 

“Seriously? Do you really think I would do that?” Alec asks incredulously.

“Well where did you get it all” she queries as Jace and Simon come out from their room.

“Holy shit Alec. Did you rob a bank? Go dumpster diving?”

“No guys have a little faith in me. A friend bought it for us. He wouldn’t take no for an answer”. Alec says while putting the food away. 

“A friend? All your friends live in this house Alec” Simon interjects.

“That’s not true, I have other friends. You don’t know everything about my life”. Alec quips back. 

“Last week you literally took a dump in the bathroom while I was in the shower. Pretty sure I do know everything about you” Simon replies. 

“The bathroom had been occupied for 2 hours! I had to!” Alec says, going red. 

“But seriously who is this friend? Do you like him? Is this the person you’ve been texting? I thought you had just been playing candy crush but now all the smiling at your phone makes so much more sense” Isabelle says. 

“Just this guy I met at work and then have been seeing around a bit. I think he lives nearby” Alec replies while avoiding eye contact with all of his siblings. 

“OMG Alec do you have a sugar daddy? I’m so impressed. This is going to solve all our problems” Maia says, from the couch. 

“Jesus Christ. No I do not have a sugar daddy. I also don’t have a crush; I barely know him” Alec lies. 

“Anyways when’s the wedding? Can I be best man?” Jace replies. 

“Uh that’s it, I was going to cook dinner but you guys don’t deserve it, I’m going to have a shower” Alec yells as he walks to the bathroom and slams the door. 

Sometimes living with 6 nosy siblings was a small burden.


	9. Fancy sushi and nightmares

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Date night!

“No”

“Please Alec! I NEED a dog. Chris, Ethan and Johnny all have pets, it’s so unfair” whines Max.

“I don’t care. We can’t afford a dog and we barely have a backyard. We are also out of the house a lot. Getting a dog is a big responsibility that we just can’t undertake at the moment.”

“I want one so bad Alec. Pleassseeeeee”. 

“I said no Max. Please go and play you’re giving me a headache.” Alec sighs, his patience wearing thin. 

Max had gone over to a friend’s house that afternoon whose family had recently bought a golden retriever puppy. Max had asked the same question of Alec for the past hour and a half and it was getting old. 

It was Friday night and he was supposed to be getting ready for his date with Magnus but instead he had been trying to calmly, and then not so calmly, explain to Max that they could not get a dog. 

It sucked because there was nothing that Alec would love more than to get a dog for Max. He knew how happy is would make his brother. But they just couldn’t afford it right now. 

In the future Max would be able to have the things he wanted, that was why Alec and his siblings worked so hard at college, so they could better provide for the two younger boys eventually. 

“But why not” Max whines for at least the hundredth time. 

“Because I said so! Now go and play before I cancel your sleepover with Ethan tomorrow night” Alec says crossly. 

That shuts Max up and he stomps, literally stomps, to his room. 

Alec hates being the bad guy but sometimes it’s necessary, and now he was going to be late for dinner at Magnus’ house. 

He hurries to Izzy’s room and knocks on her door. 

“Come in” she chimes. 

She is sat up in bed with Rafael next to her reading him a story. Alec smiles at the two. 

“Hey Iz can you help me find something to wear?”

“Omg yes of course! I can’t believe you are asking for fashion advice from little old me” she squeals delightedly.

“Don’t make me regret it. Quick I’m going to be late” Alec grumbles. 

Izzy gets up from the bed and follows Alec to the room that he shares with Simon and Jace. It was a tight squeeze. They had a bunk bed that Alec shared with Jace and a single bed on the other side of the room for Simon. The only other things in the room were two wardrobes and a small desk. 

Izzy strides up to the wardrobe on the left and flings it open. 

“Okay okay what do you have that would look good” she muses, flicking through the clothes. 

“I’m guessing you won’t wear this” Izzy asks, holding up a bright red shirt. 

“You guessed right” Alec replies with distaste. 

Maia peeks her head in the door. 

“What are you guys doing?” She asks. 

“Making sure Alec’s outfit is on fleek for his hot date with Mr. sugar daddy” Isabelle laughs. 

“For the last time stop calling him that!” Alec says. 

“Ooh let me help!” Maia exclaims.

“You can tame his hair” Izzy offers. 

“Good idea, I’ll go get Jace’s hair product” Maia replies, skipping off to the bathroom. 

She comes back into his room with the tin of product and immediately starts running her hands through his hair, shaping it into a sleeker, more refined version of his natural hair. 

“Aha, I’ve got the perfect outfit” she says, holding up a pair of black skinny jeans and a nice dark blue button down shirt. 

“Okay” Alec says, grabbing the outfit and taking it to the bathroom. 

He gets changed quickly and surveys himself in the bathroom mirror. His hair looked better than it usually did thanks to Maia’s skills and the outfit didn’t look bad either. He goes back to his room and put’s on his black boots to finish off the outfit. 

“Okay, thanks guys. I’ve got to go. I was supposed to be there at 8:00 and it’s already 8:15! Tell Max I said bye, he’s mad at me” Alec says, giving each of the girls a quick hug. And then walking into Izzy’s room to kiss the top of Raf’s head.

“Goodnight little one. Izzy will put you to bed tonight. Love you” he says as he’s heading to the front door. 

Magnus had texted him his address and it was actually only three blocks away so Alec planned to walk. It was a really nice night, he noticed as he walked down their street. 

He hadn’t had a moment to himself all day so he hadn’t had a chance to get nervous yet, but as he got closer and closer to Magnus’ address he started to panic a little bit. 

Was Magnus only taking pity on him because he felt sorry for him? Why else would a guy like Magnus be interested in Alec. His life was a mess, and it wasn’t going to get easier anytime soon. 

Alec wiped his sweaty palms on his jeans and took a deep breath as he reached Magnus’ apartment building. It looked really nice, with a doorman and everything. 

He decided not to delay, which would only result in more nerves, and walked towards the door which was being help open for him. 

He steps in the elevator and looks on his phone for the apartment number that Magnus sent him. He notices that the apartment number is 31 and there are only 32 floors. He presses number 31 and waits nervously as the elevator takes him up. 

His heart is beating in his chest. He feels like he’s about to give a speech or something. His mouth has gone dry and everything. 

Alec hadn’t really been on that many dates. He’s gone on a couple with guys that he had met at college and through dating apps but he hadn’t had much success. The last boyfriend he’d had was in high school before his Mom had left. Guys were usually scared away from his family situation and all the responsibility that rested on his shoulders. 

Apart from the few lousy dates that he’d had over the years, he had also had a few one night stands when he really needed to. 

But somehow he felt like Magnus was different. He sure hadn’t gotten this nervous for any of his dates in the past.   
The elevator dings and opens up to a small hallway with mirrors on the walls and tables under them with flowers on each side. He takes a few steps and walks out into a large open plan living space. On the left is a gorgeous modern kitchen that opens up to a large living space. Next to the kitchen on the left is a hall that he presumes leads to rooms and in front of that is a large dining table. On the right is a lounge area with a huge couch and even bigger TV. The apartment is decorated beautifully from the art on the walls to the centrepiece on the table to the rug and throw pillows on the couch. The most beautiful part of the whole apartment, though, is the floor to ceiling windows that open up to a large balcony with an amazing view of Brooklyn and outdoor lounges and a wide variety of plants. 

Alec had never seen an apartment that even came close to being this beautiful. He suddenly felt extremely inadequate. He literally shared a bunk bed with his brother and here Magnus lived in the most luxurious home that Alec had ever laid eyes on. 

“Wow” he breathes out. 

“I’m glad you approve” Magnus says, startling Alec as he strolls out from the hall on the left. 

Alec decided that the art or the view isn’t the most beautiful thing in the room as he looks at Magnus. 

He is wearing dark tight pants and a black long sleeved top with a red crossed stripe design. His hair is perfectly spiked and he has a black and red beaded necklace on. 

“Wow” Alec says once again. 

Magnus winks. “You too look very…wow” Magnus says. 

“Uh thanks..thank you” Alec stutters, standing awkwardly in the entryway. 

“Did you find the building okay? I thought I was the only one who arrives fashionably late to dates” Magnus smiles. 

“Oh, yeah I did. Sorry for being late, I got held up by Max. He was trying to convince me that we needed to buy a dog for the better part of two hours.” Alec complains. 

“Oh dear that sounds rough. Sounds like you need a drink.” Magnus says, walking into the kitchen, gesturing for Alec to follow. 

Magnus’ coffee machine looked like it cost more than Alec earnt in six months, Alec noticed. 

“Red or white? I didn’t have time to make dinner tonight so I ordered sushi from Azabu, I hope you don’t mind. I got cooked and raw dishes just in case but if you don’t like sushi I can order something else” Magnus states. 

“Oh umm white wine would be good thanks and yes sushi is great” Alec says shyly. 

Truth be told, the only sushi he had had was the $2 hand rolls that were sold in malls and at a place near his college. But he had enjoyed those and he wasn’t a picky eater.

“Great! It’s very delicious. I went a tad overboard and ordered a little bit of everything” Magnus says as he gets a large platter from the cupboard and starts loading it up with what seemed like every kind of sushi that existed. 

“It looks great, thank you” 

“Do you mind grabbing the wine and glasses, it might be nice to eat on the balcony don’t you think? It’s a lovely night” Magnus queries. 

“Of course, good idea” Alec replies, grabbing the wine and glasses and following Magnus to the balcony. 

He sets the sushi on the table that is to the left and sits down at the end of the table. Alec chooses a seat next to him in the corner, facing the view of Brooklyn. It really is breathtaking. 

“I think I’d spend all my time out here if I lived here. The view is stunning” Alec says wistfully as Magnus pours the wine and hands Alec a glass.

“It really is something” Magnus replies, looking at Alec. 

Alec blushes under Magnus’ intense gaze and looks down at the food. 

“So what would you recommend? I must admit I’m not much of a sushi connoisseur” Alec says. 

“I like the Katsuo and the Umi Masu, but they are all delightful” Magnus says, pointing out the two he had mentioned. 

Alec grabs some chopsticks from the platter and selects a piece. Thank god he had had a Japanese friend in elementary school who had taught him how to use them. 

He pops the first piece in his mouth and lets a quiet moan when the flavour hits his taste buds. 

“Already making you moan, this must be a successful evening” Magnus says smoothly. 

Alec coughs, almost choking on the bit of sushi that is still in his mouth, his face instantly going red. 

Magnus smirks at Alec’s response, clearly being what he aimed for. 

“So Alexander tell me more about yourself. All I know now is that you are an excellent brother and you work at a book store” Magnus asks.   
“Umm okay. Well I study law at NYU and I’m planning to go into civil rights law when I graduate. I don’t really have much time for hobbies but I love to read and run when I can and hang out with my family. Although they are a handful they are also a lot of fun.” Alec says 

“What do your siblings do?” Magnus asks. 

“Well Isabelle is a bit of a braniac, she’s studying pre-med. Jace is studying exercise science and teaches classes and personal training at a gym, Maia is studying journalism and Simon is studying accounting. He does all our budgeting” Alec says fondly.

“What was it like growing up with so many siblings?” Magnus asks.

“Well I didn’t grow up with them all. Izzy and Max are my only biological siblings. Mom started fostering Jace when he was 6 and later adopted him. She’s the only one of us who I think she genuinely liked. Then she started fostering Rafael four years ago. Then Simon and Maia were friends from school who both didn’t have a place to stay so we took then in four years ago. I consider them to be siblings just as much as the rest of my family” Alec says.

He notices that he has been talking way more than usual. Alec realizes that he feels comfortable with Magnus.

“It sounds like you have created a beautiful family. I myself was adopted by my parents Jocelyn and Luke when I was 10. My sister Clary, who was Jocelyn’s from a previous marriage was 2 at the time.” Magnus says with a fond smile. 

“How old are you if you don’t mind me asking?” Alec questions. 

Magnus chuckles. 

“I’m 30, and you?” he asks. 

“22, but sometimes it feels like I’m 40. Max and Raf are going to give me premature grey hairs for sure” Alec laughs. 

“Well your hair is looking superb tonight. You’ve got a few more years at least before they greys come surely” Magnus jokes. 

Alec laughs and leans back in his chair, pleasantly buzzed from the wine and the good company. 

“So what about you? I know hardly anything about you? What do you do?” Alec asks curiously. 

“I work in the entertainment business” Magnus replies. 

Alec is just about to ask what part of the entertainment business when his phone rings. Knowing it might be an emergency, Alec apologises to Magnus and answers the call. 

“Izzy hey what’s wrong?”

Izzy sounds slightly frantic on the phone. 

“Hey Alec, I’m so sorry to interrupt your date but Raf had a nightmare and he won’t stop crying. He keeps asking for you. I thought maybe you could talk to him on the phone and calm him down then go back to your date. I’m sorry, we’ve tried everything but he keeps asking for you because he says you know how to ‘scare the nightmares away’ hopefully the sound of your voice will get him to calm down” Izzy says. 

“Okay just hold on a minute while I tell Magnus” Alec says. 

“Is everything alright Alexander?” Magnus asks with concern in his voice. 

“Yeah Raf just had a nightmare and he wants so talk to me. I’m just going to talk to him and try and calm him down. 

“Of course, you can use my room to talk to your brother. It’s just down that hallway on the right. Second door” Magnus says. 

Alec quickly follows Magnus’ directions and goes into a beautifully decorated room in the second door. 

But 15 minutes later he hasn’t made any progress calming Raf down, so he decides he had better leave. Rafael often had nightmares about his tumultuous first 4 years of life and it broke Alec’s heart. If going home would calm him down, then that’s what Alec would do. 

Alec promises the 8-year-old that he will be home soon and walks back to the balcony.

“I’m so sorry to do this Magnus, but I’m going to have to go back home. Rafael thinks that I am the only one who can protect him from his nightmares” Alec says with a weak smile. 

“That is quite alright Alexander, I understand completely. Go take care of the little one. We can continue this another night” Magnus says understandingly. 

“Thank you so much for a wonderful night, however short it was. I had fun”.

“As did I. I’ll walk you to the elevator” Magnus says with a smile. 

Magnus pressed the button to go down and the door opens immediately.

“Until next time Alexander” Magnus says, while giving Alec a quick hug. 

“Bye Magnus” Alec replies as the elevator doors shut.


	10. Warlocks and realizations

Alec was carrying 3 ginormous bowls of popcorn to the living room that was full of his siblings. It was the night after his date and they were having their sometimes weekly movie/ TV bingathon. They did this most weeks, when they were all or mostly all free. 

The nights consisted of watching either a movie series or a TV show until they all eventually fell asleep, usually on the couch and mattresses in front of the TV. 

They usually also consumed their weight in cheap popcorn and candy. 

Tonight they were all present which was nice, but also meant that there was a lot of debate on what to watch. 

Max wanted to watch all 8 Harry Potter movies, which was immediately supported by Simon and shot down by Maia and Izzy. 

Maia wanted to watch X-men which Jace wasn’t happy with who wanted to watch Luke Cage, but they thought that might be a little bit inappropriate for the younger boys. 

Eventually they settle on a show called Warlocks that Izzy would not stop raving about. She had binge watched the entire thing last week and already wanted to watch it again. 

It was a good compromise because it had the fantasy elements that Simon and Max were after, with the action that Jace wanted and the ‘drop dead gorgeous” actors that Izzy was interested in. 

So after coming to a final decision they all settled down in front of the TV and turned on Netflix. The account was an account owned by one of Izzy’s exes who still probably had no idea that they were using it. 

Izzy picks the right TV show and presses pause while she waits for Alec to sit down. He quickly snaps a picture to send in response to Magnus’ question of how Alec’s night is going and then sits on the end of the couch next to Jace and Simon. 

Raf, Izzy, Maia and Max are all piled on a mattress with about 10 pillows where they will probably sleep. 

“Okay… the equivalent of Max’s body weight in popcorn? Check. 3 different kinds of gummy candy? Check. Soda that will rot our teeth? Check. Okay guys we are ready to roll” Maia says from her position between Izzy and Max.

Izzy presses play but Alec is distracted from a text message from Magnus. 

From: Magnus  
That looks positively adorable, I don’t think I have ever seen that much popcorn in my life though.

To: Magnus   
Lol I know it took forever to make. I had to make 3 different kinds. Jace likes his with parmesan cheese on it, the weirdo. 

From: Magnus   
That is rather odd. I’m an old fashioned man when it comes to popcorn. Butter and salt all the way.

To: Magnus  
I have to agree with you there. What are you getting up to tonight? 

From: Magnus  
I’m just out having drinks celebrating a friend’s birthday. I had better put my phone away actually. I’m getting the evil eye from at least 3 different people. Have a lovely night Alexander!

To: Magnus   
You too 

“Alec if you don’t stop tapping away on your phone I am going to throw your phone in the bath tub. Then turn the water on” Maia says threateningly.

Alec looks up from his phone and notices that Izzy has paused the TV and the rest of his siblings are looking at him. 

“I don’t care how sexy your sugar daddy is Alec, this is family movie night and you will pay attention or you WILL be removed. This is a good part you need to watch otherwise the show won’t make sense” Isabelle chimes in. 

“Will you two calm down, I’m putting my phone away. Press play” Alec says calmly. 

He reaches over and grabs his drink from the side table and settles in to pay attention. 

And he promptly spits out his orange soda all over himself.

“Oh my fucking fuck. Oh my fuck. What the fuck”.

“Alec! There are children present!” Exclaims Simon.

“What the hell Alec, you’re covered in soda, pull yourself together” Jace says. 

Alex stares blankly at the screen. The screen that is taken up by none other than Magnus.

“That’s Magnus” Alec says, in a state of shock. 

“Magnus Bane? Yeah we know. He’s pretty famous Alec, pretty sure everyone knows his name” Izzy says.

“No that’s Magnus. The..my..that’s Magnus”.

“Yes Alec we just established that. Are you okay?” Maia asks looking mildly concerned. 

Alec shoots up from his position on the couch. 

“No you don’t understand. That’s the guy I went on a date with last night. He said he works in entertainment but I assumed he was like an agent or something. Holy hell. What do I do now” he says while pacing the floor. 

“OH MY GOD. YOU WENT ON A DATE WITH MAGNUS BANE?” Isabelle practically screams. 

“Alec are you serious? How did you manage that? I’m honestly shocked, impressed and a little jealous. Good going bro” Jace adds. 

“I don’t understand. How did you manage this? You said you met him at work?” Maia asks. 

“I did. He came running into the store during my break, like he was hiding from something. I thought he was a criminal!” Alec says, looking to Raf for backup but he was already asleep. It was a wonder considering how much noise they were all making. 

“Omg he was probably running from crazed fans or the paparazzi. I always see pictures of him in magazines and on the internet” Izzy says excitedly. 

“I can’t believe out of all of us you’re the one who’s dating a celebrity” Jace says. 

“I’m not dating him! We’ve been on one date that lasted less than an hour” Alec replies frantically. 

“You text him all the time Alec, he likes you. This is the best thing that’s ever happened to me. Can’t believe it. My own dorky brother is married to a movie star. Do you think we can get tickets to the Oscars?” Isabelle asks wistfully. 

“Woah back the fuck up..sorry Max don’t swear it’s bad…but seriously I am not dating him. I barely know him. I didn’t even know he was an actor for Christ’s sake. And I certainly can’t date him now. I don’t want that kind of attention on me or us” Alec says. 

“I will personally murder you if you break things off with him” Izzy says menacingly.

“I need to think about this” Alec says.

“Fine think about it. But I know you won’t be able to resist his charm. Now I know why you were so nervous for your date. The man is fine as hell” Izzy replies. 

Alec didn’t disagree. 

After a while their insistent chatter and questions died down and they put the show back on. This time Alec was paying much closer attention to the actors (and one actor in particular) on screen.


	11. Magnus research

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is so short and boring, I'll be updating again soon :)

The next day Alec leaves Raf with Izzy, drops Max off at a friend’s house and heads to the café with Maia to use their free internet. 

He has another assignment due next week that is worth almost half his grade for one of his subjects. 

The only problem is that he’s been sitting in front of the laptop for 3 hours and has written 19 words.

Magnus had texted him earlier asking how Alec’s day was but he hadn’t replied yet, not knowing what to say about the whole, ‘the guy I kind of sort of really like is ridiculously famous and everyone under the sun seems to have heard of him but me’ situation. 

He can’t stop thinking about Magnus. Magnus Bane. Everything was starting to make sense now. From the weird way they had met, to the strange looks he had gotten in the supermarket to how rich he seemed to be. 

Alec couldn’t believe Magnus had even wanted to go on a date with him. He must be around successful and famous people all the time. Why would he want to spend time with Alec? 

Instead of the parties and awards ceremonies that Magnus was probably used to, Alec’s life consisted of work, assignments, exams, parent-teacher meetings and family movie nights. It was anything but exciting. 

Unable to concentrate on his study for more than 30 seconds at a time, Alec decides to google Magnus. 

This does not help his mental state. First of all, it comes up with 22 million search results which is insane. 

Alec doesn’t know how he has managed to not know who Magnus is before now. He guesses he is in the dark about a lot of pop culture. He rarely uses the internet; only to study because they don’t have it at their house and he doesn’t have any social media. 

He looks at google images first. There are so many pictures of Magnus. Magnus in tuxes and suits at events, paparazzi shots of him leaving restaurants and bars, beach photos (which holy mother of abs) and even photos of him getting close with both men and women. 

This at least does not surprise Alec as he knew Magnus was bisexual from their texts with each other. 

He goes back to the search results on google and is overwhelmed by the sheer amount of public interest in Magnus. There are articles from The New York Times, Buzzfeed, Perez Hilton, GQ, Out Magazine and so many more. 

Alec skims over a few of them but knows better than to go down the rabbit hole of Magnus research when he is supposed to be writing his essay. 

Knowing he has to make decent headway on this assignment today, he gathers all the self-control and perseverance he can muster and gets back to writing. 

The threat of the due date is the only thing that keeps Alec going, and he manages to get in the zone. By 6pm he has almost finished. 

He has to go pick Max up from his Friend’s house so he closes his laptop and waves at Maia as he leaves. 

Max’s friend lives a few blocks away so Alec decides to walk. He’s waiting at an intersection when he looks up and sees Magnus on an idle bus. Not the real version of him, but a huge photo of him plastered to the entire side of the bus. He’s dressed in all black with red streaks through his hair and is flanked by two women also wearing all black. Over their heads is the work ‘Warlocks’. 

Alec makes a split second decision and snaps a picture of the bus. 

Before he can chicken out he sends the photo to Magnus along with a message. 

To: Magnus  
So..I learned something about you today. 

Alec is nearing the stairs to Max’ friends house when he gets a reply back. He leans against the stairs and looks at his phone.

From: Magnus   
About that…

To: Magnus   
Why didn’t you tell me?

From: Magnus   
I was going to! I was going to tell you the other night but then your sister called. I wanted to tell you in person to save you from immediately googling my name and seeing all sorts of things are most likely untrue. 

To: Magnus   
I don’t know how to feel about this. 

From: Magnus   
That’s okay Alexander, I know I am a lot to take in. Perhaps we could meet for coffee tomorrow and have a chat about it.

To: Magnus  
I can’t, I have work and then class and then I have to finish some work for class. 

From: Magnus   
Okay, that is alright. Just let me know when you are free to talk.

To: Magnus  
Okay. 

Alec, puts his phone in his pocket, frustrated at his confusion about his own feelings and what to do about all this. 

Deciding to bench the whole thing for the moment, he walks up the stairs to pick up Max.


	12. Late night phone calls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We are getting closer to happy Malec!!

Alec has been studiously ignoring the Magnus Problem™ for the past 3 days. 

It had been a busy week which had aided Alec in trying to keep his mind off things.

He’d had to turn in his essay, work two shifts at work and attend classes as well as having to help out with the boys. Max had been getting increasingly moody, which might have something to do with the fact that he would be a teenager in a couple of weeks. 

Alec couldn’t believe it, it honestly felt like yesterday that he was 5 years old.

They had all been trying to save up to buy him a mobile phone. Alec felt really guilty that he was one of the only kids in his class to not have one yet. 

They would have to start saving for Christmas presents soon too, as It was already the middle of November.

So Alec was stressing about Magnus, money and college, which Izzy was quick to notice. 

It was late Wednesday night and he had just come home from a meeting with his group for an assignment. 

He’d come in and got some leftovers from the fridge, put them in the microwave for two minutes and then proceeded to stare at the microwave for 5 minutes after it was done cooking while he thought about everything. 

“Umm Alec? Pretty sure your stir fry is done” Izzy says, making Alec jump. 

“Oh right” Alec says, reaching for the food and grabbing a fork. 

He doesn’t bother sitting down to eat, he just leans against the kitchen counter and devours the food.

“Are you okay Alec? You’ve been so distracted all week. And I thought we would have heard something about Magnus by now?” She says while staring at Alec with concern.

“Yeah I’m fine, just a bit stressed about classes and Max’s birthday” Alec says, avoiding Izzy’s gaze.

“I know that’s not it Alec. You always handle money and college stress really well, but you’ve basically been a zombie these last 3 days. You didn’t even say anything when Meliorn hit on Jace again yesterday when he was picking me up. You didn’t even laugh when Maia punched him in the face. Jace basically fell on the floor laughing and you barely cracked a smile. Tell me what’s going on” Izzy prods.

Alec groans. Maybe he hadn’t been handling his stress as well as he had thought. He really was not in the mood to talk about this but he knew Izzy would not relent with her questioning until he told her what was bothering him. 

“I don’t know Iz. I think I really like Magnus but now I can’t even do anything about it because of his situation. We can’t have that kind of attention on us when we aren’t even legally supposed to be looking after Rafael. I just felt like something good was happening for the first time in a long time and now it’s over” Alec says resignedly. 

“Alec don’t be ridiculous. You deserve to be happy! You have given up so much of your life to take care of the boys and us. You need to put yourself first for once and have a little fun. We are going to be fine. There is such a small chance that the paparazzi will pry into our lives and even if that happens it’s unlikely that Child Protection would even notice. The foster system is not that observant. They haven’t checked up on Raf in over 2 years. And if something happens then we will face it when it comes. We always manage to get through things, that is the lightwood way” Izzy says with a smile. 

“Logically this all makes sense I guess…” Alec says. 

“You and I both know that this is only a small part of why you are backing away from Magnus. You’re scared. Trust me, I have abandonment issues too. I’m pretty sure all of us in this house do. But at some point you are just going to have to bite the bullet and trust someone. I saw how happy Magnus made you and I see how miserable you are now. You need to let yourself be happy big brother. There is no one I know who deserves it more” Izzy says softly. 

“Wow that was some speech Iz. Thanks” Alec says, hugging his sister. 

“Did is work?” Isabelle asks. 

“It may be working…” Alec says reluctantly. 

“Yesss, now go call Magnus!” she orders.

“It’s 11pm he’s probably asleep!” 

“Well text him and ask! I expect a full progress report by tomorrow morning. Love you” Izzy says with a smile, flouncing off to her room. 

Alec considers Izzy’s words. He supposed she was right. The chances of something happening with Raf were very slim. She had also hit the nail on the head when she talked about his abandonment issues. He hadn’t even fully realised it until now, but he had kept pretty much everyone expect his family at arm’s length for the past 4 years, too afraid that they would leave. 

Frustrated by his own intimacy issues, Alec decides to throw caution to the wind and do exactly what Izzy says. 

He texts Magnus. 

To: Magnus,   
Hi Magnus, I was wondering if you were awake and free for a chat.

He receives a reply within about a minute.

From: Magnus   
Alexander! Of course. I was just watching TV. Call when you are ready. 

Alec doesn’t hesitate, knowing he will lose his resolve if he does. He quickly opens Magnus’ contact and hits the call button.

Magnus answers on the second ring. 

“Alexander. What a pleasant surprise. I was afraid I had scared you off” Magnus says. 

Alec decides to tell the truth, knowing there was no point holding things back if there was going to be anything between the two of them.

“Truthfully? I was scared. I was scared that being around someone in the public eye would attract unwanted attention to my family. Rafael is supposed to be under the care of my mother who is nowhere to be found, so if the state found out that it was actually me and my siblings looking after him then he might be taken away” Alec confessed.

“Alexander, I’m sorry this has been causing you so much anxiety. That is a perfectly reasonable fear.” 

“And also…” Alec hesitates.

“Take your time my dear” Magnus says gently. 

“Well, I’m not very good with letting people in. I love my siblings with all my heart and we are all weirdly close, but I haven’t really let anyone else in since high school. So I think I’m just scared that if I let you in, it will end in disaster” Alec says in a rush, heart thudding in his chest. 

“Oh, my sweet Alexander. You don’t have to worry about that with me. I actually have similar feelings. I went through the worst breakup in the history of breakups 3 years ago and have not been able to get truly close with someone since then. But you have unlocked something in me Alexander.”

Alec feels like he can’t breathe. Was Magnus admitting that he might like Alec as much as Alec liked Magnus? He couldn’t believe his ears.

“Wow. Okay. So uh. What do we do now?” Alec asks. 

Magnus chuckles.

“Well, even though I don’t know you all that well yet, I trust you Alexander. So I am willing to give whatever this is a try if you are. But I understand your fears about Rafael and I will understand completely if you want to stay away” Magnus says. 

“I trust you too” Alec says immediately. 

“Well that’s good to hear” Magnus says.

“I think that there is no point worrying about something that may or may not happen in the future. As Izzy always says; us lightwoods can get through anything. If the time comes, we will fight for Rafael. So I think I am willing to give this a go” Alec says.

“That is wonderful news Alexander. Would you like to join me for dinner again this Friday evening? We can pick up where we left off” Magnus chuckles. 

“Yes, that would be lovely” Alec says through a smile.

“Okay, shall we make it 7 o’clock?” Magnus asks. 

“7 is great. Goodnight Magnus”.

“Goodnight Alexander. Sweet dreams”. 

Alec goes to sleep that night with the biggest smile on his face.


	13. Dinner date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Date night number 2! More successful this time ;)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm trying really hard to Americanize this but there may be some things that are wrong because I'm Australian and have no idea about a lot of things so sorry about that!

Just a couple of Fridays after their last date, Alec is once again nervous as hell as he presses the button for the elevator to Magnus’ penthouse apartment.

This time he is wearing black jeans, a dark green henley and his trusty leather jacket. Izzy had wanted him to dress up more but he was comfortable in this and ignored her many protests. 

This time he was early instead of late. Luck had not been on his side when he was getting ready; all his siblings were home and wearing shit eating grins at the fact that he was about to go on his second date with a guy who stared in their new favourite TV show. 

This meant he couldn’t get out of the house fast enough. 

So it was 6:50 when he stepped out of the elevator and into Magnus’ apartment. 

“Magnus?” Alec calls out.

“Alexander! I’m just in the kitchen” Magnus calls back. 

Alec walks into the kitchen and sees Magnus stirring something over the stove. 

He’s wearing a tight black long sleeved shirt with black pants, silver necklaces, light makeup and dark blue nail polish. He looks gorgeous as always. 

He puts the spoon down and walks over to give Alec a warm hug. 

“Wow Magnus this smells amazing. What is it?” Alec asks appreciatively. 

“I’ve made bruschetta to start and then a tomato, red wine and chorizo risotto. I was craving Italian evidently” Magnus grins. 

“I also made some panna cotta for later if we aren’t already too stuffed with carbs” Magnus laughs. 

“That sounds amazing” Alec says, practically drooling. He hadn’t had time to eat lunch today between classes and work. 

“Would you like a glass of wine? I just opened this merlot which is delicious” Magnus says, gesturing to a bottle on the bench. 

“Yes please, that would be nice” Alec says gratefully. Something to calm his nerves wouldn’t go astray. 

“So how was your day darling?” Magnus asks as he puts a lid over the pot of risotto and starts plating up the bruschetta. 

“It was okay. I’ve been pretty busy lately with college and work. I’m pretty keen for Thanksgiving break even if it is only 4 days” Alec says. 

“That will be a welcome break I’m sure. What do you Lightwoods usually do for Thanksgiving?” Magnus asks.

“To be honest we order an obscene amount of Chinese food and play board games all day. The tradition started when Izzy burned the turkey on thanksgiving 4 years ago and almost set her hair on fire trying to make gravy. I think she actually did singe of some of the ends of her hair. After that year we just kind of kept it going” Alec laughs. 

“Isabelle sounds like quite the chef’ Magnus says sarcastically with a laugh. 

“You have no idea. We’ve put a permanent ban on her cooking. She’s only allowed to make things that don’t require cooking and toast with supervision. We had to enact that last rule when she almost stuck a fork in the toaster and electrocuted herself before Jace knocked it out of her hand” Alec remembers aloud. 

“For someone so bright, she really is a menace in the kitchen” Alec says fondly. 

“Isabelle sounds like a lot of fun, as do all your siblings. I would love to meet them one day” Magnus comments.

Alec hums in response, but inwardly hopes that he can put that off as long as humanly possible. He didn’t want Magnus to be scared off quite yet.

“Well this is done. Let’s move to the dining table shall we? It’s a bit too cold to sit outside this evening” Magnus says.

Alec grabs the wine glasses and bottle and follows Magnus to the table which is already set. They sit at the end of the table facing the large windows and beautiful view. 

Magnus serves them the appetizer.

“What are your plans for thanksgiving?” Alec asks. 

“I spend thanksgiving lunch with my mom, dad and sister and then head to my dear friends’ Catarina and Ragnor’s place for dinner with their daughter Madzie as well as our other friend Raphael. We usually just make dinner together and then get a little drunk after Madzie is asleep” Magnus says.

“That sounds fun” Alec says. 

“Yes it is, although not as fun as your family games day sounds” Magnus says.

Alec blushes. 

“I guess it’s a little lame” he says. 

“Nonsense. We have to hold on to traditions. They make the best stories” Magnus says kindly. 

“Yeah I guess you’re right” Alec admits. 

They eat in silence for a little while. Magnus really was a wonderful cook.

“So what did you do today?” Alec asks between bites.

“I slept in to be honest. We had a late shoot last night. We are filming the last episode of season 2 at the moment. We were shooting in Central Park until 4am so I was quite tired today. So I let myself sleep in rather late today and then answered some emails, did some food shopping, cooked dinner and now here we are. Not a bad day at all” Magnus winks. 

Alec smiles at him. 

“Now are you ready for the main attraction” Magnus asks, gesturing to the risotto.

“Yes, it looks amazing.” Alec says honestly.

Magnus serves the risotto from the pot resting in the centre of the table.

Alec immediately picks up his fork and tries a bite. 

“Mmm this is so good. Where did you learn to cook like this?” 

“My mom. Well both my mom’s really. I used to sit on the counter when my biological mom would cook. We would have people over and she would cook for everyone. Her speciality was traditional Indonesian food that she learnt to cook from her mother and grandmother. I would sit and watch her for hours and help her. Unfortunately, she got cancer when I was 7 and died when I was 10. She was best friends with Jocelyn who offered to adopt me after my mother’s passing. Jocelyn met Luke when I was 9 and Clary was 1 and he has accepted both of us as his children with open arms.” Magnus says kindly.

“I’m so sorry about your mom Magnus, that must have been so hard as a young child” Alec says. He surprises himself by reaching over and putting his hand over Magnus’ left hand which is laying on the table. 

Magnus smiles at Alec.

“Thank you Alexander. It was very difficult at the time but I have been blessed with an amazing second family. I had known Jocelyn since I was born and considered her a second mom already so It was less of an adjustment than it could have been. She was the one who got me into acting actually. She is an artist herself so she recognised a passion in both me and Clary early on. She signed me up for acting classes when she noticed how many made up plays I would force her and Luke to watch. She also taught clary everything she knows about sketching and painting. They both are truly talented artists” Magnus gushes. 

“That’s amazing. I’m glad you found such a supportive family” Alec says. 

They settle into a comfortable silence, and finish the rest of their food. 

A couple of minutes later, Magnus places a hand on his flat belly. 

“I don’t know about you but I am stuffed. I think the panna cotta might have to be put on hold until there’s some room in my stomach for it” Magnus laughs. 

“I agree 100% Totally worth it though, that was delicious. Thank you” Alec says.

“You are very welcome my dear. How about we watch a movie while we wait?” Manus suggests. 

“Sounds nice” Alec says, standing up to help Magnus take the dishes back to the kitchen. 

They place the dishes in the sink. 

“I’ll help you clean” Alec offers. 

“No way Alexander. You are a guest. These can be taken care of later. Let’s go pick a movie” Magnus says, taking Alec’s hand and leading him to the couch. 

The couch is grey and huge, with the place where you sit being almost the length of a bed, and covered in soft pillows and throw blankets. 

Despite the size, then end up both sitting rather close in the corner of the couch. 

“Any preferences?” Magnus asks, turning on the gigantic TV and flicking it to Netflix. 

“Anything is fine; I’m honestly used to never having a say in what I watch. I’ve been known to enjoy both Frozen and The Shining” Alec laughs.

Magnus ends up picking a new arrival that the both of them hadn’t seen yet. 

If Alec is honest, he hasn’t been paying attention to the movie since Magnus put it on 20 minutes ago. 

Magnus is wedged into the corner of the couch and Alec was sitting closely next to him. Magnus had put a blanket over the both of them.

He had also put his hand on Alec’s right thigh and was rubbing slow circles on his skin through his jeans. 

After 15 minutes of this, Alec couldn’t take it anymore. He looked over to Magnus and saw him glancing back at Alec. They stared at each other for what would be an inappropriate amount of time if this was a normal encounter. 

Magnus reaches out and grabs the back of Alec’s neck and gently pulls him in, gently enough that Alec would be able to pull back easily if he wanted to. 

But Alec doesn’t want to. 

He closes the rest of the distance and crushes his lips to Magnus’. 

The kiss is rushed and passionate at first and then slow and tender. Alec’s whole body is turned towards Magnus and he has both knees bent. 

Magnus reaches down and tugs at Alec’s hips. 

Alec doesn’t need any more encouragement than that and quickly pushes up on his right knee and straddles Magnus. 

He puts his hands on both sides of Magnus’ face and Magnus’ hands stay glued to Alec’s hips as they continue to kiss. 

Magnus detaches from Alec’s lips only to latch onto his neck. Alec puts his head back, granting Magnus better access and lets out a breathy moan at how good it feels. 

He rocks his hips on Magnus’ and feels the evidence of both their arousal.

Magnus moans.

“Alexander, if we don’t stop soon, we are going to end up having sex on the first date. Do we really want that?” Magnus says, detaching from Alec’s neck and looking up at him. 

Alec groans. 

“I guess not” he says grumpily. 

Magnus chuckles. 

“You’re cute when you’re horny and grumpy” he says, which only makes Alec pout more. 

“What’s say we go see if I’ve been successful in my first panna cotta attempt?” Magnus suggests. 

“Okay” Alec agrees, reluctantly hopping up off of Magnus and walking to the kitchen, Magnus trailing behind. 

The dessert turns out to be just as delicious as the dinner, almost making the blue balls worth it. 

They eat in on the lounge, bundled up under the blanket, sandwiched next to each other on the huge couch. 

At around 12, Alec says that he better leave and Magnus offers to walk him downstairs and get him a cab. 

Alec agrees, because it was late and too cold to walk. 

While they wait for the cab Magnus slips his hands into Alec’s jacket and onto his hips. 

“I had a lovely time tonight Alexander” he says while looking slightly up at Alec. 

“Me too” Alec says, yet another blush spreading onto his cheeks. 

“Magnus reaches up and plants a soft kiss on Alec’s lips. 

“Get home safely. Message me when you get home?” He asks as the cab pulls up.

Alec gives Magnus one more quick peck.

“Will do, bye Magnus” he says, opening the car door.

Magnus hands the cab driver some bills and put’s his hand up when Alec protests. 

“No let me do this. Goodnight Alexander” he says as the cab driver takes his cue and speeds away.


	14. Drill sergeant Jace

The next day, Alec wakes up later than usual after his late night. He strolls out of the bathroom at 10:15, not a care in the world. 

That is until he goes to make some toast and Izzy, Maia and Jace all flock over to the kitchen and stare at him expectantly. 

“Well?” Maia asks.

“Well what?” Alec replies. 

“Are you kidding? How was your date? You didn’t get home until late, must have been preeetty good” Jace says slyly. 

“It was nice” Alec says while popping two pieces of bread in the toaster.

“Nice!? Nice? That’s all you are going to say? What did you do? What did you eat? Was his apartment nice? You never said anything about it last time. Did he tell you anything about Warlocks? Did you kiss? Tell us everything” Izzy says in a menacing tone, while leaning against the kitchen counter top, arms crossed.

“Omg you guys are so nosy, you need to go on dates yourselves. Meliorn doesn’t count. Neither do Jace’s one night stands” Alec says. 

“Don’t change the subject Alexander Gideon Lightwood” Jace says sternly. 

“Where’s Simon when you need him? I feel like he wouldn’t be as hell bent on knowing every little detail of my dating life as you guys seem to be” Alec says. 

“He’s teaching guitar lessons til 4, and that’s not even true. Simon lives for gossip. Now spill” Maia says.

“Christ fine. We just had dinner at his place which is really nice. He made risotto and bruschetta and panna cotta for dessert. We didn’t talk that much about his work, we mostly talked about family. Then we watched a movie and then I left” Alec says, avoiding eye contact with his siblings as he spreads peanut butter onto his toast. 

“You’re missing out on the most important part Alec. Did. You. Kiss?” Izzy asks. 

“Yes we kissed. Please leave me alone” Alec says grumpily. 

Izzy and Maia’s squeals and jumping up and down cause Max and Raf to look up from the couch where they are watching Saturday morning cartoons. 

“What’s going on?” Max asks.

“Nothing, Isabelle is just being silly” Alec says, shooting a warning look at the girls.

“Fine, you win this time Alec, but when I get back from work I will be questioning you further on this” Izzy says warningly. 

“Don’t start the interrogation without me. I’m going to uni to study and then meeting with a friend. I’ll be back at like 8” Maia says. 

“Well I guess it’s time for me to leave home, nice knowing you guys. I better go pack my things” Alec says as he bolts to his room and slams the door.

The rest of the day passes fairly uneventfully, apart from the general annoying pests that are his siblings. 

Alec spends it working on his last assignment that is due before Thanksgiving break. Magnus was working all weekend finishing the last episode of Warlocks so Alec didn’t hear from him much other that a good morning text and a how is your day text.

On Sunday they do their quarterly (and intense) ‘spring clean' (but in Autumn) which revolves around scrubbing every surface of the house to get ready for Thanksgiving. 

This event is spearheaded by Jace who is a surprisingly dedicated neat freak. Four times a year he turns into a drill sergeant and delegates chores to the rest of the household like they are about to be kicked out of their home if every surface doesn’t shine and all the beds aren’t folded into perfect hospital corners. 

Resistance is futile, but Max and Simon are giving it their best shot. 

“I don’t understand the point in this. A little dirt never hurt anyone” Simon says grumpily, from where he’s lazily dusting the blinds. 

“The point is that we are not animals. We are civilized beings and out living space should reflect that” Jace says with gritted teeth. He is steadily working his way over all the walls in the house, wiping them down with a wet cloth, a soapy bucket at his feet.

“Sir yes sir” Max says, saluting Jace from where his is mopping the floors. 

“Rightio wall washer. Seriously who washes their walls? There are more important things in life” Simon says exasperatedly. 

“Do you know how many germs are crawling over every surface right now? I’d rather not be exposed to any more than I have to thanks. Quit your complaining. Even Rafael cleans better that you do and he’s 8!” Jace says.

Simon huffs and drops his duster.

“Simon, you’d better pick that duster up right now or you won’t be making it to your gig tonight because I will be forcing you to clean the bathroom floor with your own toothbrush” Jace says threateningly. 

“Jesus, Mary and Joseph calm the fuck down Jace. We are cleaning. You will have your spotless house in no time” Isabelle says from her spot next to Alec in the kitchen. They had cleaned out the fridge and were now scrubbing all the cupboard doors. 

They finish just in time to make it to Simon’s gig at Hunter’s Moon with his band ‘Rock Solid Panda’. They are all exhausted but the house looked great, which Alec had to admit was a nice feeling.

Simon’s band was actually pretty good and Alec enjoyed watching them while having a few drinks with Maia and Izzy. Jace had been put on babysitting duty due to the abuse that they had all had to cop from him today over cleaning. 

Alec grins at his phone when he receives a message from Magnus at 11pm of his pouting face along with a message.

From: Magnus  
I detest outdoor night shoots when it’s cold. My bed is calling me.

Alec sends a photo back of Izzy, Maia and himself holding up their beers and grinning. 

From: Magnus  
You wound be Alexander. I would sell my soul to be having a drink with you in a warm bar instead of being here.

To: Magnus  
Haha sorry didn’t mean to rub it in. We definitely deserve it after the day we had though. Jace forced us all to clean the house within an inch of its life.

From: Magnus  
I have to admit, that doesn’t sound very fun. They are calling me back to set now. Have a nice evening with your family Alexander.

To: Magnus  
Stay warm Magnus!


	15. Family meetings and phone theives

On thanksgiving day, Alec wakes up slowly, cherishing the second day in a row that he’d been able to sleep in. 

Yesterday had been Max’ birthday so they’d let him take if off school and taken him to a movie, and made homemade pizzas for dinner.

He’d even gotten his wish of getting a mobile phone. It wasn’t the latest IPhone or anything but he still had seemed pretty pleased with it, jumping up and hugging them all with a huge grin on his face when they had given it to him after dinner.

He’d then immediately run to his room to text all his friends until he went to sleep.

“FAMILY MEETING MEET AT THE TABLE IN 5 – I REPEAT 5 – MINUTES” He hears Maia scream while banging on their respective doors. 

Alec groans. This can’t be good. Family meetings usually meant one of two things; money problems or one of his sublings having gotten into trouble somehow and needing help to fix it.   
He doesn’t hear anyone in the shower so he hightails it out of bed and into the bathroom, locking the door to be safe. No one had any boundaries in this house. 

Something that is evident when Jace manages to wiggle the lock on the door open and come in the bathroom. 

Alec sticks his head out of the Moana shower curtains that Isabelle had bought a couple of months ago.

“What the fuck Jace. What is the point in even having a lock on our bathroom door if you and everyone is constantly picking it!?” Alec says in an annoyed tone. 

“I’m sorry but when nature calls you can’t just ignore is Alec. It’s too cold to pee outside” Jace says as he walks to the bathroom to take care of business. 

“What is the family meeting about?” Alec asks. 

“No idea” Jace says, finishing up and walking out the door, leaving it open of course. 

“Jace! Door!” Alec yells, to no avail. 

Within 30 seconds, Isabelle and Max have taken the open door as an invitation to come in and brush their teeth. 

“Jesus Christ I am buying a working lock as soon as possible. All I ask is for 5 minutes to shower by myself! 5 minutes” Alec says angrily.

“Well why would you leave the door open then big bro? Kinda asking for us to come in and use the bathroom” Isabelle says. 

“I DIDN’T! Jace did” Alec says exasperatedly. 

“Alright calm down calm down we’re leaving” Max says. 

Alec enjoys his remaining 1 minute of peace before he hears the inevitable, “ALEC HURRY UP. You’re late for fam meeting” from Maia. 

Knowing it’s best not to argue, Alec gets out of the shower and hurries to his room to change. 

“What is this even about?” Alec asks as he sits down on the table between Simon and Rafael.

“Wellllll I kind of met a guy and I was wondering if I could kind of sort of maybe invite him to the thanksgiving Chinese board game bonanza?” Maia asks hesitantly.

“Absolutely not” Jace says at the same time that Izzy says “Omg yes!”.  
“Why not Jace?” Maia asks. 

“Because it’s for family only” Jace says stubbornly.

“Oh for goodness sake Jace, we consume enough Chinese to feed an army and then play Monopoly, it’s hardly a sacred family event” Izzy says.

“Exactly! And he doesn’t have any family who live here so he’s gonna be alone if we don’t invite him” Maia says. 

“Well now I feel bad. Fine invite him” Jace says. 

“Victory!” Maia says, high-fiving Izzy. 

“So, who is he? Where’d you meet? Fill us in. You’re so sly I had no idea you were even seeing someone” Izzy says.

“His name is Jordan, I met him at uni. He accidentally came into my women in media lecture and ended up staying because he found it so interesting. I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to go on a date with a hot feminist so I asked him to coffee” Maia says. 

“When was this? How come you haven’t mentioned anything” Simon asks. 

“This was like 3 weeks ago. We have been on a few dates since then. I didn’t say anything because I didn’t know what it was yet and we all say how much we ripped into Alec about Magnus” Maia laughs. 

“Tell me about it” Alec says grumpily. 

“What does he study? Jace asks.

“Music and he works at a vinyl record store not far from here. It’s pretty cool” Maia says. 

“So he’s a hipster?” Jace scoffs. 

“He’s not a hipster, he just likes good music” Maia defends. 

“Uh huh” Jace says disbelievingly.

“This brings me to my next point. Please can we act like a normal family when he comes over? I’m actually really starting to like him” Maia asks. 

“We are totally normal. It’ll be fine” Simon says. 

“Totally. That’s why you and Jace impersonated turkeys by putting rubber gloves on your heads for almost an hour last thanksgiving” Maia deadpans.

“Good times” Jace says, grinning at Simon. 

“What time is he coming?” Alec asks.

“He will be here in like an hour so we’d better all get ready” Maia says. 

Izzy and Maia are up in an instant, racing towards the bathroom to try and get there before the other. 

Maia grabs Izzy’s arm just before she reaches the bathroom, making her stumble and fall into a heap on the floor, Maia going down with her.

“Omg. Please Iz! I have to look good today!”

The both scramble to get up.

“Arghh fine, only because I understand the importance of looking hot for a date” Izzy relents. 

“We live in a house of animals” Alec says, putting his head on the table. 

“We really do” Max says. 

The day had turned out surprisingly well, with no major hick ups apart from a minor argument between Alec and Jace over Monopoly.

Alec was right of course. 

Jordan and Maia were actually pretty cute together and he had also really hit it off with Simon. He was even going to audition to be in Simon’s band as their drummer had just moved to Texas for school.

At around 4 he received a text from Magnus.

From: Magnus   
How has your thanksgiving day been Alexander?

To: Magnus   
Well I may never eat again but it has been a pretty fun day, by this time last year Maia and Jace weren’t speaking to each other over a Monopoly disagreement so I call this year a success. How is your day?

From: Magnus  
Lunch with my family was lovely but unfortunately little Madzie is sick so we won’t be going to dinner at Catarina and Ragnor’s house. Clary, Raphael and I might just watch a movie and drink some wine instead. 

“Who are you texting Alec” Izzy says, snatching his phone out of his hands and bolting to the kitchen.

“Give my phone back this instant” Alec screeches. 

“Omg his dinner plans fell through? You should invite him here!” Isabelle says excitedly.

“Yeah. You know what else would be fun? Lighting myself on fire” Alec says in a serious tone.

“Come on Alec it will be fun. We all want to meet him” Izzy says.

She ducks out from the kitchen and sprints to her room, which is unfortunately the ONLY room in the house with a working lock that can’t be picked. She slams the door, which does nothing to drown out the evil cackles that can be heard through the door. 

Alec bangs on the door, but to no avail.

“Isabelle please. I am literally begging you. I’ll do anything. I’m not ready for him to meet everyone yet. He’ll think I’m a crazy person, being related to you guys” Alec says. 

“Alec we are awesome he’s gonna love us. Just invited him” Izzy says.

“Oh my god. You have never done anything as evil as this. And that is counting when you put green hair dye in Jace’s shampoo when he ate your candy bar last month” Alec says.

“Hey, I rocked that green hair” Jace says as he walks up to see what’s going on. 

“Why is Izzy locked in her room?” Jace asks.

“Because she is a wicked wicked woman with no morals and a bad sense of humour” Alec says. 

“Yes! They are coming! He said he will come in an hour with his sister and friend and he will bring wine. Knew I was gonna like him” Izzy says in victory.

“I hate you” Alec says, stomping to his room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The picking the lock scenario is based on the true story of when I had to deal with this from my sisters on a daily basis when I was younger :(


	16. Apologies and decisions

Alec had been brooding in his room for about 15 minutes when Izzy tentatively knocks on the door.

“Alec can I come in?” she asks hesitantly.

“Well you’ll probably do it anyway since you never listen to what I say” Alec says.

Izzy slowly opens the door.

“Can I just talk to you?”

“What?” Alec snaps.

Izzy takes a seat on the bed next to Alec.

“I’ve seen the error of my ways. I was just really excited to meet him; you seem to like him so much” Izzy says 

“I do, which is why I don’t want him to see this shit show. I’m 22 and I literally sleep in a bunk bed with my 21-year-old brother. It’s embarrassing” Alec says. 

“Oh Alec. Magnus isn’t going to care about that stuff. And if he does then he doesn’t deserve you at all” Izzy says softly.

“I wouldn’t blame him If he was weirded out with our situation. It’s not exactly what you’d call normal” Alec says.

“I’m sorry Alec. If you really don’t want him to come, I will take the blame. You can say that I just want it to be a family day” Izzy says apologetically.

“Good” Alec says.

“But you should at least think about letting him come. He sounded excited and I think it will be fun. He’s going to meet us all eventually anyways. But I am sorry I texted him when I know you didn’t want me to. I was just excited. I get why you’re mad.”

“Can I have my phone back?” Alec asks, and reaches out as Izzy hands his phone over.

He immediately brings up the texts between himself and Magnus (and Izzy).

To: Magnus  
Oh no poor Madzie. Well you and your sister and friend are more than welcome to come here if you don’t mind having leftover Chinese for dinner. We still have enough to feed a small army. We were just going to have some drinks and play some games.

Well, that could have been much worse, Alec thinks. 

From: Magnus  
That sounds fun! Are you sure? We wouldn’t want to intrude.

This text provided the perfect opportunity to back out. Alec thought about it for a minute. Did he want Magnus to come? Did he want him to meet all of Alec’s family in one go? He had been planning to introduce them in groups of one or two so it wasn’t so overwhelming for everyone involved.  
But he really did want to see Magnus and It did seem like he wanted to come.

Alec grabbed his pillow and put it over his face, groaning into it. This is not how he thought today would go at all.

It had been about 20 minutes since Magnus had texted so Alec had to reply soon.

He made a quick pro’s and cons list of Magnus coming in his head.

Pros: he would get to see Magnus, he might get to kiss Magnus, he would get to meet Magnus’ sister and friend, he would get to spend all night with Magnus.

Cons: Magnus would meet his entire family in one hit, there was a huge possibility that Alec’s siblings would embarrass themselves and him, Magnus would see their house which was as far from his own luxurious apartment as it could get.

Alec hated the fact that he was forced into making such a quick decision. He had wanted to wait until he was ready to do this. Izzy didn’t understand, she just thought it was a bit of fun, but to Alec this was extremely stressful. On the one hand, he would love to see Magnus tonight, but on the other hand he hated being forced into it.

So he decided to do what all mature grown men would do in this situation: flip a coin. Yep, that seemed like a reasonable decision making tool.

He found a quarter on his bedside table and decided that heads would be tell Magnus to come and tails would be to tell him no.

He took a deep breath and flipped the coin into the air, catching it on his palm. He lifted up the hand on top of the coin and groaned.

Heads.

He takes one more minute to think about if he is ready for this and then picks up his phone to text Magnus.

To: Magnus   
No, you wouldn’t be intruding. Maia has invited the guy she is seeing over – he’s here now – so it’s not just family. See you in half an hour or so?

Alec then texts Magnus their address, throws his phone on the bed and leaves the bedroom.

Jordan, Maia, Simon, Izzy, Rafael and Max are all engaged in a heated game of Uno when Alec surfaces from his room. 

He walks past them and finds Jace in the kitchen pouring some cheap wine into plastic wine glasses. 

“So the drinking begins?” Alec asks.

“Well it is almost 5. Happy hour!” Jace grins. 

Alec laughs. 

“Do you want one? Simon has offered to stay sober so he can watch over the boys while we get lit. Sounds like you need one from what Izzy was saying” Jace says. 

“No one is getting lit until both the boys are asleep thank you very much. And yeah you heard? Izzy is so meddling sometimes. I’m fucking nervous” Alec says.

“So he’s coming? It will be okay Alec. We may be annoying but we love you and we wouldn’t do anything to embarrass you in front of Magnus. At least not intentionally” Jace says.

“I don’t know I just feel like I’m not ready Jace” Alec says.

“Do you think you would ever feel ready though? You barely been with anyone in like 4 years. Maybe it’s time to stop being so cautious” Jace says contemplatively. 

“Well it’s happening whether I like it or not. They will be here in like half an hour” Alec says, like he’s talking about his impending doom.

“They?” Jace asks. 

“Yeah Magnus, his sister Clary and his friend Raphael.”

“Sister? Now we’re talking! Is she hot?”

“No. No no no. Just no. Do NOT hit on Magnus’ sister.”

“Fine. But I can’t help it if she hits on me. And quite frankly, why wouldn’t she?” Jace says cockily.

“I wouldn’t count on it. She probably has better taste than that if she’s Magnus’ sister” Alec says, dodging Jace as he snaps a dish towel at him repeatedly. 

“Stop stop I surrender I surrender okay she will definitely hit on you!” Alec practically screams.

“Thank you Alec, I’m glad you’ve come to your senses” Jace says as he puts the dish towel down. 

“Come on let’s go crush these guys at a game of Pictionary” Jace says, slinging a hand around Alec’s shoulders. 

Alec goes with him, content on ignoring Izzy for the rest of the evening.


	17. Shovel talks

Alec bounced his right leg up and down, chewing on his bottom lip. Magnus was due to arrive any minute. 

They were all sitting around the table that was only designed for 8 people. They’d added some plastic chairs that were from the yard. The table was littered with a variety of board games and plastic cups and wine glasses. This was hardly a sophisticated affair. 

They were in the middle of a game of Pictionary. Maia was acting out something and Jordan was trying to guess what it was but Alec was barely paying attention. 

Usually Alec and Jace dominated at this game, seeming to always know what the other was thinking. 

But today Alec’s attention had been elsewhere and he hadn’t been able to guess what Jace had been trying to act out. 

He knew that he was freaking out way more than he needed to. Maia had known Jordan for less time than Alec had known Magnus and she seemed totally at ease with him being here. Alec was jealous. 

He reached over and downed his wine. Liquid courage should do the trick. 

Noticing this, Simon puts a hand on Alec’s shoulder. 

“It’s going to be fine Alec. It’ll be fun” he says. 

Alec hears the dreaded knock and stands up abruptly, knocking his chair over in the process. 

“I’ll get it” he immediately mutters, picking up the chair and walking to the door.

He takes a deep breath, swings the door open and is greeted by a smiling Magnus and what he assumes are Clary and Raphael. 

Well Clary and Magnus are smiling. Raphael looks like he’s come from a funeral, dressed in all black and looking like he’d rather be anywhere else. 

Clary is his exact opposite, a sweet smile on her pretty face which is framed by bright red hair. She’s holding a giant pumpkin pie. Like really huge. Alec doesn’t even know how that thing fit in an oven.

Magnus looks as amazing as usual, with dark jeans, a red button up shirt and long black coat. His nails are painted black and he has red streaks in his spiked hair. He’s holding a bag with a few bottles of wine in it. 

“Alexander! Thank you for inviting us. This is Clary and Raphael” he says pointing to them respectively. 

“Uh hi guy’s thanks for coming. I’m Alec. Which you would already know. Uh come in” he says awkwardly, ushering them inside. 

He leads them over to the table filled with his siblings and Jordan. 

“So everyone, this is Magnus, Clary and Raphael. This is everyone – Izzy, Jace, Simon, Maia, Max, significantly smaller Rafael and Jordan” Alec lists off, all parties smiling and waving at each other bar Raphael who continues to scowl.

“Omg Simon?” Clary says in disbelief. 

“Clary?” Simon says as he gets up to give her a hug.

“Simon I haven’t seen you in years!” Magnus says, also enveloping Simon in a warm hug.

“How do you guys know each other?” Alec asks. 

“Me and Clary were best friends in elementary school. We went to different high schools so we drifted. I’ve missed you Clary” Simon says, wrapping her in another hug. 

Magnus smiles fondly at the two.

“They really were inseparable. You guys used to spy on me when I had friends over all the time. 

“Pretty sure you were the cause in me realising that I was Pansexual. I walked in on you making out with a football player when I was like 11” Simon laughs. 

“I’m glad to be of service. Helping people reach their full gay potential is my legacy” Magnus winks earning a laugh from everyone.

“Here sit down” Alec gestures to the three seats that they had left vacant next to Alec.

“Do you guys want a drink? What would you like?” Alec asks.

“I’ve brought some wine; I’ll help you” Magnus says following Alec to the kitchen. 

As he is walking away he hears Rafael speak up shyly, 

“Is that pumpkin pie?” and Clary’s reply, 

“It sure is! I made is yesterday, it’s my Mom’s recipe. You are going to love it”

Once in the kitchen Alec looks around for where they keep their only actual wine glasses, opening all the cupboard doors. 

“Alexander?” Magnus says. 

Alec turns to look at him. 

“Yeah?” he asks. 

“Hi” Magnus says sweetly, walking up to him and placing his hands on Alec’s hips.

Alec smiled at him. 

“Hi” he says back and places a quick kiss on Magnus’ lips. 

“Gross” they hear and look up to see Max bypass them to go to the pantry. He reaches for a bag of Cheetos. 

“You can’t still be hungry, you ate more than even Jace today” Alec says in disbelief as Max opens the bag and grabs a handful. 

“I’m a growing boy Alec, I need my strength”.

“I don’t really think you’re going to get much strength from Cheetos squirt” Alec says and Magnus laughs.

Max shrugs and heads back to the dining table. 

“Where were we?” Alec asks. 

“Hmm I believe we were here” Magnus says and captures Alec’s lips in another kiss. Maybe this had not been such a bad idea after all. 

“ALEC can you get me a glass of wine please?” Maia yells. 

“Me too!” Jace says. 

“I guess we’d better get on it the tribe are thirsty” Magnus chuckles. 

“I think we might have to use plastic cups is that okay? I can’t find the other ones” Alec says awkwardly.

“Of course. I’ve been known to drink directly out of the bottle before, plastic cups don’t bother me” Magnus laughs. 

“Okay so we need 6 wines”. 

“Let’s open one of the ones I brought” Magnus says, pulling out one of the bottles from the bag on his shoulder. 

They pour the wine and each grab 3 glasses, carefully walking back to the table. 

Alec sits down on the right of the nearest side of the table. Magnus is on his left with Raphael on his left and Clary on his left. At the head of the table on the right is Raf and on the other head is Jace and Izzy. On the other side of the table across from Alec is Max, Maia, Jordan and Simon.

Alec gives Maia and Jace their drinks and sets one down in front of himself. Magnus places drinks in front of Clary, Raphael and takes one for himself.

Alec sits there awkwardly until Simon speaks up.

“Let’s play scattergories!”

“Could you pick a nerdier game Si?” Jace says. 

“I love scattergories! Me and Simon used to play when we were little!” Clary exclaims. 

“Okay fine, scattergories it is!” Jace relents, suspiciously quickly.

“Okay let’s go in teams it’s more fun that way. I’ll be with Simon, Jace is with Jordan, Maia is with Max, Alec, Magnus and Raf can be in a team and Raphael can be with Clary” Isabelle orders. 

“Joy to the world” Raphael mumbles, earning a snort from Simon. 

“Shut up I know you secretly love me deep down” says Clary.

“Very very deep down” Raphael replies. 

“Don’t be mean to my tiny baby sister Raphael!” Magnus warns. 

“I’m not that tiny!” Clary protests. 

“You’re pretty tiny” Jace offers, earning a glare from Clary. 

“Jace can you not insult Magnus’ sister please” Alec says.

“It’s not a bad thing! She looks good!” Jace defends himself. 

“Okay stop you’re making this worse, let’s play” Alec says reaching for one of the cards that has categories listed on them. 

“So, blueberry are you ready kick these guy’s asses in the best game of scattergories ever?” Magnus asks Rafael. 

“Blueberry?” Raf asks in confusion. 

“Yes that’s my new name for you because your eyes are such a beautiful blue” Magnus replies kindly, making the small boy look down and smile shyly.

Alec almost melts. Magnus being so sweet to Rafael was doing things to Alec. 

“I’m totally stealing that nickname, that’s adorable” Izzy pipes up from her side of the table, thankfully not close to Alec’s. 

Magnus, Alec and Raf’s team end up coming second to Clary and Raphael’s team, who were extremely creative with coming up with unique answers. 

At some point during the game, Raf had climbed onto Alec’s lap and was now curled into his side asleep, tired from their big day. 

Alec was absentmindedly stroking his hair. 

“That is extremely cute Alexander” Magnus whispers, leaning in close to his ear. 

Alec blushes. 

“I’d better get him to bed actually” Alec says as he slowly gets up, holding onto the sleeping boy and carrying him into the room that he shares with Max, who is already on his bed on his new phone. 

When he gets back Isabelle has taken his vacant seat and is chatting to Magnus and Simon is talking to Clary and Raphael, who seems to be slightly less grumpy. 

Alec decides that now is a good time to get a glass of water and heads to the kitchen. 

He’s just leaning against the counter sipping his water when Clary come in. 

“Hey Alec”

“Oh hey Clary, do you need anything? Are you hungry? There’s plenty of food” Alec says. 

“Oh no thanks I’m good. I was just coming to talk to you” she smiles. 

“Oh okay what’s up?” he asks nervously. 

“Just wanted to ask what your intentions are with my brother?” she says with an exaggeratedly intimidating scowl. 

“Oh uh I don’t uh. I mean I like him? I want to spend more time with him. I’m not going to hurt him if that’s what you mean” Alec says, while fiddling with the sleeve of his shirt. 

Clary laughs and he looks up.

“I was actually just coming to get a drink but that’s good to know you have pure intentions with my brother. He really is a good guy and he’s been hurt pretty badly in the past” Clary says more seriously. 

“I wouldn’t intentionally do anything like that” Alec says sincerely. 

“What are you guys talking about?” Magnus says as he walks up with Isabelle on his tail. He goes to Alec’s side and puts an arm around his waist. Alec leans in to the touch. 

“I was just giving Alec the shovel talk” Clary says proudly. 

“Biscuit you didn’t!? Poor Alexander” Magnus says. 

“Well while we are on the topic, Magnus if you hurt Alec I will personally murder you” Izzy says menacingly. 

“Wow Clary’s talk was so much less threatening. You need help Izzy” Alec says. 

“Duly noted my dear. I will refrain from hurting dear Alexander, if only to avoid your wrath” Magnus says. 

“That’s good, I don’t want to lose my access to knowing all of Warlocks on set secrets. Did Jacob really die in that last episode? I’m dying to know. It was so good!” Izzy says.

“Depending on how drunk I get tonight I may just tell you” Magnus says to Izzy with a wink.

“Get this man a drink STAT” Izzy says seriously, causing Magnus and Clary to laugh. 

“I love your sister Alexander” Magnus laughs. 

“She’s very…passionate” Alec replies. 

They grab some wine and head back to the table. Simon and Raphael are deep into conversation. Alec wonders how Simon managed to get Raphael to talk to him. He definitely didn’t seem like the warm and fuzzy type. 

If Alec had to guess, he would say that Simon wore him down with the incessant and constant chatter that seemed to be flowing from Simons lips 25/8.

Alec heard a giggle and turned towards the couch. Maia was sitting on Jordan’s lap and they were making out. Right in the middle of the living room.

“Can you guys get a room?” Jace asks as he comes out of the bathroom.

Not needing to be told twice, the pair get up and walk hand in hand to Izzy and Maia’s room, giggling all the while. 

They hear the door slam, the lock turning.

“Great, now I’m locked out of my own room” Izzy grumbles. 

“Could be worse, you could share a room with two people. Simon talks in his sleep. Every night. Last night you mumbled ‘Channing Tatum…so hot’ over and over” Jace directs at Simon. 

“That reminds me. That was such a good dream. It was my birthday and you guys took me to a bar - it wasn’t even a strip club – and we are all dancing and then I look across the bar and see Channing Tatum and he sees me and we lock eyes and then he starts walking over to me and then a chair materialises behind me and he pushes me into It and starts to give me a lap dance. It was hot” Simon says. 

They all dissolve into giggles, Alec not even being able to hold his own laughter back. 

“Sounds like quite the dream Simon” Magnus says through his laughter. 

“It was” Simon says dreamily. 

“Who wants to play cards against humanity?” Izzy asks.

“Oh this will be good” Jace says, grabbing the wine. 

Over the next couple of hours, Alec laughs so hard that his stomach muscles hurt.

Surprisingly, Raphael had come up with some hilarious combinations of cards that had them all in stiches. 

When Jace had started to become even more cocky than usual, slurring his words slightly, Alec had decided that it might be time to call it a night. 

They all said their goodbyes, Simon hugging Raphael a little longer than was entirely necessary. 

“Bye Magnus, thank you for coming” Alec says, giving him a tight hug.

“Thank you for having us Alexander, I had fun, we all did. I think Raphael might have a crush on Simon” Magnus whispers. 

“Not as big as Simon’s crush on Raphael” Alec counters.

Magnus chuckles. 

“Sleep well Alexander” Magnus says, leaning in to press a soft kiss to his lips.

“You too Magnus” Alec says, watching Clary and Raphael get into the cab and then watching Magnus follow.

Alec was actually surprised with how well the night had turned out. He’d had a really good time and so had everyone else, he thought. It was good to meet Magnus’ sister and for Magnus to meet his family. 

Maybe Alec could forgive Isabelle for taking his phone. Eventually.


	18. Tears and frozen yoghurt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much to everyone who is reading this story, your comments and kudos make my day! I started writing this on a whim and have never really written anything before so i'm pretty surprised that anyone is reading this at all. So thanks so much :D It's really fun to write and is constantly distracting me from working on my thesis and assignments haha.

"Absolutely not". 

"Alexander". 

"Nope I'm not budging on this one"

"Project runway is a thing of beauty. A television masterpiece. You should be thanking the heavens that this is even available for your viewing pleasure". 

Alec looks down at his lap where Magnus' head is lying and gives him an unimpressed look. 

"I promised myself 2 years ago that I would never watch another reality show again when I lost a bet with Izzy and was forced to watch an entire season of the Kardashians. It was awful Magnus" Alec says with a shudder. 

"And I thought I was the dramatic one" Magnus says with a roll of his eyes, a laugh escaping his lips.

"This is no laughing matter Magnus. It was the equivalent of Chinese water torture. I've never been the same since". 

"Fine you win this time but one day your eyes will be opened to the pure entertainment that is Project Runway. Mark my words". Magnus says resolutely. 

It was a week after thanksgiving and Alec was back at Magnus' apartment for a movie night. Magnus had been away in LA doing press for Warlocks and attending a convention. They had kept in almost constant contact, even talking on FaceTime a few times. Alec had never been a texter but lately he had been finding himself checking his phone every hour at least, hoping for a text from Magnus. 

They were laying on the ginormous couch and had been trying to pick a movie for the last 20 minutes. Magnus’ cat Chairman Meow was on the opposite end of the couch snuggled into a soft bed with a soft blanket inside it.

"Well seeing how you have shot down all my suggestions, you can pick Alexander".

"Fine I will" he says, reaching for the remote. 

After a short search, Alec selects his choice. 

"Oh no". 

"Oh yes". 

"Alexander I don't want to cry this evening. I still have eyeliner on". 

"Then you'd better hold yourself together".

"I think I'm going to need blankets if I'm going to have to survive rose hogging the door one more time. Standby" Magnus says, hopping up and walking towards his bedroom. 

He returns a minute later with a huge fluffy blanket. 

"Okay I am ready". 

"Come here" Alec says, holding his arms out to Magnus.

Magnus lays the blanket down on both of them and snuggles into Alec's side. 

"Can't believe I'm watching titanic for at least the 12th time for you when you won't even watch one teensy episode of project runway for me" Magnus pouts. 

"Well when you put it that way...maybe I'll consider it. One day!" Alec quickly adds. 

"I call that a victory" Magnus says, turning his face up to press a kiss Alec's cheek. 

They get to the end of the movie before Alec notices that Magnus is actually crying. 

"I thought you were kidding when you said you were going to cry" Alec says. 

"All the dogs and cats on the boat would have died Alexander! They wouldn't have known what was going on" Magnus sniffles.

"The animals are in heaven now Magnus" Alec says, running his hand up and down Magnus shoulder. 

"That doesn't help my shredded heart now Alexander". 

“I thought you’d said you’ve seen this movie 12 times” Alec questions. 

“Time does not make me immune to the pain Alexander” Magnus complains.

“How are you NOT crying? The band stayed on board to play for everyone so they would stay calm, it’s heartbreaking”. 

“I think you need some sort of comfort food” Alec muses.

“Alexander you’re a genius. Let’s go get frozen yoghurt!” Magnus exclaims like it’s the best idea he’s ever had. 

“It’s like 40 degrees and you want to get frozen yoghurt?” Alec asks. 

“It’s heated in the store obviously” Magnus states, looking up at Alec through his eyelashes. 

How could Alec resist him? He looked adorable with his wide eyes smudged with eyeliner from crying about cats and dogs.

“Okay fine, but only because I’ve never tried frozen yoghurt before and have been wanting to try it” Alec lies.

“Why didn’t you say something! What an outrage” Magnus says with a hand over his heart.

They head over to the door and put their shoes, jackets and scarves on, preparing for the chilly 11pm weather. They ride the elevator down hand in hand and Magnus leads Alec to the left of his apartment building. 

There aren’t that many people out but they can see a few couples on dates and a few drunk college kids making their way to the next bar. It’s unfortunate when they happen to pass a tiny girl with blue hair vomiting into a trash can, her two friends holding her hair back and arguing over which one of them should have to take her home. 

They make it to the frozen yoghurt place in around 5 minutes. Alec orders the plain yoghurt and adds cookies and mars bar pieces while Magnus gets both the green tea and caramel macchiato flavors and adds choc chips and raspberries. 

They make their way over to a booth and sit down side by side.

“Okay I must admit, this was a great idea” Alec says, almost moaning when he takes his first bite.

“I must say, I’m glad I had a hand in popping your frozen yoghurt cherry Alexander” Magnus says, causing an embarrassing blush to rise to Alec’s cheeks. When was ne not blushing around Magnus? 

“I love making you blush. It’s so adorable” Magnus says as he reaches up to place his hand on the side of Alec’s face. He leans in and kisses Alec softly. 

This of course only makes Alec blush ever more. Magnus laughs and gives Alec another peck before digging back into his yoghurt, Alec doing the same. 

Alec looks up when he sees a group of people approaching. 

“Magnus?” a girl who looks to be about 18 asks.

“Yes my dear?” Magnus asks the girl kindly. 

“It is you! Omg we are all such huge fans of yours” the girl says, gesturing to the two boys next to her.

“Thank you guys so much for the support” Magnus says with a grin.

“We have weekly viewing parties of Warlocks with two of our other friends, it’s seriously the best part of our week” one of the boys says. 

“That’s awesome, I love seeing the pictures and tweets of people watching” Magnus says. 

“Could we maybe get a picture? Mary and Ethan are going to be so jealous” the girl says. 

Magnus looks over at Alec. 

“Of course” he says, and gets up, walking a couple of steps away from the booth to take a picture with the group. They continue to chat for a couple of minutes until Magnus politely excuses himself to come back to the booth. 

Alec is awkwardly playing with the bit of leftover cookies and mars bars at the bottom of his cup.

“Hey, do you want to get out of here? I’ll walk you home. You were saying you had to be up early for work tomorrow?” Magnus asks. 

“Yeah okay, yeah I do” Alec says. They dump their empty cups in the trash and head outside. Alec crosses his arms to avoid the cold, and maybe to avoid holding Magnus’ hand.

“So does that happen a lot?” Alec asks. 

“Not all the time. Depends where I go. But usually a few times a day, more if I’m somewhere really public” Magnus says 

“Wow. Is that hard?” Alec asks. 

“No it’s not really hard for me, I love meeting them. It lets me know that what I’m doing is reaching people” he says. 

“Mmm” Alec says contemplatively. 

“Does it bother you?” Magnus asks. 

“No. I don’t know. I mean it’s a little weird but I like that people are noticing how talented you are” Alec says.

“Thank you darling. And if it starts to really bother you, please talk to me about it. In the past I have dated people that were on the complete opposite end of the spectrum to you. They were always wanting to be in the spotlight, asking me to take them to events and always wanting to be out in public. Sometimes I thought they were dating my image and not me. My ex Camille was definitely doing that” Magnus says bitterly. 

Alec cringes at the thought of attending an event, hoping that day will never come.

“Well you don’t have to worry about that with me, attending a Hollywood event sounds like a particularly good torture method for me” Alec laughs. 

“But who will be my arm candy” Magnus asks in mock outrage. 

“Take Chairman Meow” Alec supplies.

“He is a handsome boy” Magnus concedes. 

Alec chuckles as they reach his house. 

They order a cab and wait on the front steps. When it arrives, they stand up and Alec gives Magnus a hug. 

“Well I had fun tonight. I’ll see you later” Alec says, pressing a chaste kiss to Magnus’ lips. 

“Me too. Sleep well Alexander”.


	19. Mr. Tall Dark and Handsome

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Drama

“It will be a miracle if I don’t pass out today. I got like 20 minutes of sleep last night” Simon says as he loosely holds onto a handle on the subway, looking as if he might fall at any moment.

“Maybe you should have worked on your assignment yesterday afternoon instead of going on a date with Raphael then” Maia counters.

“It wasn’t a date. At least I don’t think so. Raphael is so hard to read! And he sends like one word texts. Sometimes I can’t tell if he likes me or wants to me choke” Simon says unhappily.

“Probably both” Maia snickers.

“Can you ask Magnus if he likes me?” Simon whines.

“No” Alec says.

“Why not?”

“Because you’re not 12. Ask him yourself” Alec counters.

“Fine. Some help you are” Simon grumbles.

They exit the subway and head up the stairs to head towards NYU. 

“Hold on I need to buy like 5 energy drinks” Simon says as he makes a detour to a convenience store. 

Maia and Alec wait by the front counter while Simon goes in search of the life-giving substance. Alec can relate, he’s had many a late night where his only survival mechanism was instant coffee. 

It was Monday morning and they were all bracing themselves for a full day of classes. Well Alec, Maia and Simon were. Izzy had work and Jace had the day off, the lucky bastard. 

“Holy fuck”

“What?” Alec asks. Maia just points.

Alec follows her line of direction and looks to the shelf full of magazines in front of the counter. 

“Omg” Alec mutters. He snatches a magazine off the shelf and looks at it. His own face along with Magnus’ is taking up almost the entirety of the front cover. They are kissing. It’s taken from in front and Magnus’ hand is resting over Alec’s face.

The headline is: Magnus Bane Caught Locking Lips with Mysterious Hottie.

Alec’s heart thuds in his chest. Maia quickly grabs another magazine off the shelf and they both quickly turn the page to read the article:

Fans posted this photo of Magnus Bane and his unknown lover on Saturday morning after they ran into him at BerryMe Frozen Yoghurt late on Friday night. The couple were said to have been enjoying a romantic evening together, not being able to keep their hands off each other. The bisexual actor has had a reputation for being a player in the past, following dozens of appearances with both men and women after his spilt with model Camille Belcourt in 2015. So is Mr. Tall Dark and Handsome just another one of Magnus’ flings or could it be something more serious? And more importantly…who is he?

The photo of him and Magnus, along with the article, is accompanied by a number of other smaller photos of Magnus with other people. In some of them he is kissing the other person or holding their hand. In others he is just walking next to them. 

Alec feels sick. He never would have imagined in his wildest dreams that he would be on the cover of a magazine. Fame or recognition is not something that he had ever wanted in his past or in his future. Were all those things they said about Magnus true? Was Alec just another fling?

“It’s not that bad. You can’t even see that it’s you. No one will recognize you” Maia says gently. 

“What are you guys looking…holy shit is that you Alec?” Simon says in disbelief. 

“Shut up, keep your voice down” Alec whispers. 

“Come on, buy your stuff and let’s go guys, we are going to be late” Maia says. 

While Simon buys his drinks Alec takes a picture of the Magazine and puts it back on the shelf. 

They walk the rest of the way to classes in silence, Maia and Simon thankfully knowing that Alec has a lot to take in. 

When they make it to campus, they all go their separate ways, Maia giving Alec a reassuring hug.

He has the most difficult time concentrating all day. His professors’ words seem to be going in one ear and out the other. He’s worrying. He’s worrying that someone will recognize him. He’s worrying that someone will dig into his life and figure out that their mother has been gone for over 4 years. He’s worrying that child protective services will get wind of their situation and take Raf away from them. 

The thing that surprises him the most though, is how much the article has gotten under his skin. He knows that there is way more lies than truth in these types of magazines. They are hardly a credible source of information. But Alec can’t get the nagging feeling out of his head that what they said about Magnus could be true. What if Alec didn’t mean anything to Magnus? What if he just thought what they had was a bit of fun and would discard Alec like he did to the rest of the people that were pictured in the magazine. 

At around 6pm, when Alec had suffered through all his classes, he decides he can’t take the wondering anymore and texts Magnus. 

To: Magnus  
Can we talk?

From Magnus  
Of course. What’s up?

To: Magnus  
(Attachment: 1 image).

From: Magnus  
Oh my. I’m just on the way home now. Do you want to come over?

To: Magnus  
Yes, be there in half an hour. 

He sends a quick text to his siblings, telling them that we won’t be home until later and heads toward the subway.


	20. Resolutions

Alec rides the elevator up to Magnus’ apartment with his hands in his pockets, trying to work out what he even wanted to say. 

When the elevator opens he walks inside, takes his shoes off and hangs his coat up. He spots Magnus on the couch dressed more casually than Alec had ever seen him, in sweat pants and a long sleeved top. His hair is spiked up as usual, but his face is free from makeup. It shouldn’t be as hot as it is to Alec, but he still finds himself distracted from his train of thought by how the grey shirt stretches over the muscles on Magnus’ chest and arms. 

“Hey” Alec says, walking over and sitting down next to him, leaving more space than he usually would.

“Hey, how was your day?” Magnus asks, peering at Alec as if trying to gauge what he’s thinking.

“It was fine; I was at college all day” Alec states. “Uh, how was yours?” he adds. 

“My day was good Alexander, I just had a meeting with a director for a project that I’m starting in a couple of weeks”.

“Oh that sounds cool” Alec says awkwardly. 

Magnus puts his hand over Alec’s where it’s resting on the couch.

“So how are you feeling about that photo?” I know it’s not something that is comfortable to see from my own experience, and I know that your circumstances only make it harder”.

“I’ve got to be honest. I feel weird about it. It’s weird that I’m on a magazine and it’s weird that we are kissing for the world to see. It’s also weird that they are speculating who I am and what our relationship is. I’m also worried about Raf. I don’t want to be the cause of any unwanted attention on us, even if my siblings have all said that it’s okay” Alec finishes. 

“I know this must be hard for you Alec. When I first started acting I knew there was the possibly of people recognising me but I had no idea about everything else that that would entail. I wasn’t prepared for how interested people would become with my personal life. I know it’s not the same for you because you didn’t ask for any of this but I do understand how invasive it can feel. I also know how responsible you feel for Rafael. I’m sorry that it happened” Magnus says sincerely.

“I was actually prepared for something like this I guess, but it was just so jarring seeing it on display at a convenience store on the way to class. I wasn’t expecting it” 

“I’m not going to pretend that this doesn’t happen often or won’t happen again. This sort of thing happens to me all the time. I am used to it now. You have to decide for yourself whether you think it’s worth it” Magnus says sadly.

Alec contemplates this while he looks down at his jeans and touches a spot on them. 

“Were all those things true? About you being a player? I kind of knew that you had been with lots of people in the past but they made it seem like you don’t date anyone for more than a couple of weeks” Alec says, while resolutely avoiding Magnus’ gaze.

“Alexander look at me” Magnus say, putting his hand underneath Alec’s chin. Alec looks up at Magnus and finds his soft gaze staring back at him.

“I’m not going to lie; some of the things they said are true. I have been very active in the dating scene in the past, particularly after I broke things off with Camille. But what I was doing was for fun back then, and the people that I was with knew that. They weren’t looking for anything serious either” Magnus says. 

“So is that what we are doing then?” Alec asks, fighting the urge to look away from Magnus. 

“Alexander of course not. I like you. A lot. You’re different from anyone I have ever met before and my feelings for you are not trivial”.

“Mine aren’t either” Alec says quietly. 

“That makes me very happy”.

“So what are we doing then” Alec says without thinking, wanting to take the words back immediately. 

Magnus smiles. 

“Well I was hoping that we were boyfriends” Magnus says with a wink. “Would you like that? I understand if you aren’t ready” he adds. 

“I’m ready” Alec says. 

The two grin at each other like 13 year olds on their first date. Alec reaches over and puts his hand over the Magnus’ cheek causing him to lean in to the touch and close his eyes. Alec leans in and presses a soft kiss to Magnus’ lips, who returns the kiss instantly, turning the chaste kiss into something deeper. Magnus’ tongue presses against Alec’s bottom lip asking for entrance and Alec grants it, moving his tongue against Magnus’. 

Magnus reaches over and tugs of Alec’s arm and then end up flat on the couch, Alec on top of him. Alec moans against Magnus’ lips as he feels the hard muscle of Magnus’ body underneath him, the thin fabric not leaving much to the imagination. 

“Can I take your shirt off?” Magnus asks breathlessly against Alec’s lips. 

“Only if I can take yours off” Alec replies. 

Magnus chuckles and reaches to pull Alec’s shirt over his head. Alec returns the favour - which is much more difficult due to Magnus’ position against the couch - but he manages after a slight struggle and some giggling. 

Alec has to take a moment to fully appreciate the beauty that is Magnus Bane’s chest; his golden skin stretching over abs that can only be described as glorious. 

“You’re so beautiful” Alec breathes.

“As are you my dear, now come here” he says impatiently, as he reaches for Alec’s neck to bring their lips back together. 

Alec will not be deterred from his exploration though, and unlatches from Magnus’ lips to press a trail of wet kisses from Magnus’ neck to his chest. 

Magnus chuckles. 

Alec looks up at him and grins. 

“Sorry, I’m powerless against these abs. I can’t be held accountable” he says as he trails kisses back up Magnus’ body, pausing to pay particular attention to Magnus’ neck. 

“Oh god Alexander you feel so good” Magnus moans, which sends a jolt of arousal through Alec’s body. 

Magnus grabs Alec’s arms and rolls so that he is the one on the top and immediately starts sucking on Alec’s neck. Alec leans his head all the way back to grant him access. If he wasn’t turned on before, then this would certainly do the trick. He lifts his right arm and bites his own forearm to stop himself from making too much noise, letting out a breathy moan anyway. 

Magnus looks up at him and tugs on his arm. 

“No don’t. I want to hear you” he says. Alec almost spontaneously combusts, but is distracted by Magnus’ lips reattaching to his neck and making their way down to Alec’s chest. When his lips come dangerously close to the waistband of Alec’s jeans Alec can’t take it anymore. 

“Should we..do you want to..bedroom?” Alec asks. 

“Thought you’d never ask” Magnus says, as he regrettably gets up from on top of Alec, but then holds out a hand to him. 

They can’t make it to the bedroom fast enough.


	21. Authority Kink

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ;)

Halfway to Magnus’ room, he seems to get impatient and pushes Alec up against the wall, crushing their lips together once more. Alec’s hands wind themselves into Magnus’ hair.

“You’re lucky I like you, no one gets to touch my hair” Magnus says against Alec’s lips.

“I feel so priv…omg” Alec cuts himself off as Magnus disentangles Alec’s fingers from his hair and drops to his knees on the wooden floor.

He looks up at Alec with lust in his eyes and brings his ring clad hands to Alec’s belt buckle.

“Is this okay?’ he asks.

“Hnnggg yes” Alec says. Magnus undoes Alec’s belt buckle at a snail’s pace, surely with the evil intent of driving him crazy.

After what seems like minutes, he finally gets the belt undone and slowly unzips Alec’s jeans. Alec feels like his heart is a jackhammer trying to steadily break its way out of his own chest.

Instead of taking his jeans and underwear off at the same time, Magnus is still set on his path to destroy Alec so he takes the jeans off first, Alec lifting his legs out of the jeans and Magnus tossing them into the hallway.

Magnus grins up at Alec who reaches down to tug on Magnus’ jaw to bring him back up. Magnus’ unfairly clothed body presses against Alec as he captures Alec’s mouth in another kiss. Alec moans as he feels Magnus’ hardness against him and just like that, the teasing tone of Magnus’ behaviour disappears. He places his hands on either side of Alec’s hips and pushes him roughly further against the wall, moving his lips against Alec’s neck and sucking wet kisses down towards his collar bone. Alec can’t recall ever being this turned on. He closes his eyes and leans his head back, his hands flat against the wall to steady himself. Magnus is now making his way down Alec’s chest, pausing to straight up lick a long line on the muscles on his stomach.

“Oh my god…Magnus”

“Yes Alexander?” Magnus asks as he looks up at Alec through his lashes.

“Uh nothing. Keep going” Alec says.

“Pushy pushy. Do you have an authority kink that I’m unaware of Alexander?” Magnus with a chuckle.

“Stop teasing” Alec mumbles.

“Now just why would I do that when you’re standing before me in all your naked glory” Magnus says, and continues his efforts to slowly undo Alec via the soft, torturous kissing of his stomach. When he reaches the waist band of Alec’s briefs, he hooks his thumbs in them and looks up.

“Can I?”

“God yes” Alec says immediately.

Magnus pulls the tight black briefs down Alec’s legs, causing his hard length to spring free. He throws them in the general direction of the discarded jeans. Hands back on Alec’s hips, Magnus looks up at Alec with a smirk and then takes him into his mouth with no warning. Alec let’s out a gravely moans and bangs his head back against the wall with a thud.

Magnus bobs up and down over Alec’s dick, sending him further and further into pure ecstasy. He reaches down and winds his hands loosely into Magnus’ hair again, not caring in the slightest about messing it up.

“Mmm Magnus you’re amazing” he praises, causing Magnus to release him with a pop. Alec looks down in confusion only to see Magnus take his hand from Alec’s hip and place it around Alec’s length, moving back in to close the distance between his mouth and Alec. He slowly swirls his tongue around the head, and uses his hand to stroke his length.

This is without a doubt the best blow job he had ever received, Magnus deserved an award for his skills, Alec thought.

He has to grip the walls again when Magnus releases him and takes hold of Alec’s hips again, starting to bob up and down with an increased pace.

“Magnus, I’m gonna..”.

Magnus only grips Alec’s hips harder and takes him into the back of his throat. Taking that as permission, Alec let’s go, and Magnus swallows down the evidence of Alec’s arousal.

Alec breathes heavily, resting against the wall.

“Magnus, that was amazing” he says breathlessly.

Magnus smirks up at him cockily and lets himself be pulled up by the arms by Alec. Alec can taste himself on Magnus’ lips when they kiss.

He grabs Magnus’ hand to lead him into the bedroom, more than eager to return the favor.

 ******************************************************************************************************************************

Alec wakes up on his stomach, his face pressed into the silk pillow.  He feels a warm arm resting on his back and he smiles to himself.

Last night had been…amazing. There was no other word to describe it. Alec hadn’t been intimate with someone in over a year and the fact that it was Magnus made it even more special. They had spent hours exploring each other’s bodies and then talking until almost 3am.

The only downside to it was that Alec was now extremely tired and he had to get to work. He looks up to the bedside table to read the time on Magnus’ alarm clock. 7:26. He breathes a sigh of relief; at least he won’t be late.

“Mmm morning” he hears in a sleepy voice. Alec turns over and is greeted with Magnus’ smiling face, with creases on his cheek from his pillow and his hair a far cry from its usual perfection. He’s just about the cutest thing that Alec has ever seen.

“Good morning, did you sleep well?” Alec asks, rubbing his thumb over the rough texture of Magnus’ second day shave.

“I was out like a light, you tired me out” Magnus laughs, causing yet another blush to rise to Alec’s cheeks. He wonders when he will become immune to Magnus’ flirting. It seemed like that day would never come.

He leans over to give Magnus a kiss, morning breath and all.

“Do you have time for breakfast?” Magnus asks.

“I have to be at work at 9 and I have to go home to get changed first so probably not” Alec says unhappily.

“That’s a shame, guess I’ll have to shower all on my own then” Magnus pouts.

“Oh what a terrible boyfriend I am” Alec chuckles, surprised by how comfortable he feels using the term after such little time.

“The absolute worst” Magnus says, contradicting his statement by pressing a butterfly kiss to Alec’s nose.

“What have you got on today?” Alec asks.

“I just have a wardrobe fitting for the movie I’m doing in a couple of weeks. Wardrobe fittings are so much fun. Unless they dress me in something hideous. You can expect some photos of the options today. Hideous or not” Magnus says.

“Oh I look forward to that. Especially If they are hideous” Alec laughs. He looks at the clock. 7:36.

“I had better get going if I want to make it to work on time” Alec says.

“Do you mind walking yourself out? It’s cold and I am rather unclothed” Magnus says.

“No problem” Alec says with a laugh.

“I’ll see you soon hopefully?” Magnus asks.

“Definitely” Alec agrees.

Magnus presses one last soft kiss to Alec’s lips and disentangles himself from the covers.  He gets up from the bed, not a care in the world as he struts to the bathroom in his birthday suit.

 


	22. Lice and Sugar Highs

“ALEXANDER GIDEON LIGHTWOOD! Are you seriously doing the walk of shame right now?” Isabelle asks as Alec walks in the door. 

She has her hands on her hips like she is his mother catching him in the act of sneaking out; something that Alec had never experienced. Their mother couldn’t care less where they went growing up. She had always been too busy going on dates with creepy men to care. 

“Izzy shut up” Alec says in a panic. “Where are Max and Raf?” he asks. 

“Relax, they just left for school. Sooo? How was it?” she asks. 

“How was what?” he says, playing ignorant as he walks to the kitchen to make a quick coffee. 

“How was your night? First sleepover for Malec, that’s a big step. Did you do the deed?” She asks, hopping on top of the kitchen bench.

“What the hell is a Malec? And there’s no way in hell that I am discussing my sex life with you” Alec says, as he puts the kettle on and fills his cup with an obscene amount of instant coffee. 

“Malec is your couple name obviously? Magnus and Alec? Malec? And you’re no fun. I tell you guys about my dates”. 

“Which I repeatedly tell you not to do…” Alec says in an annoyed tone. 

“But seriously, Maia told me what happened with the magazine. That must have been weird” Izzy says seriously. 

“It was but I’m fine, we worked it out. We uh, we made it official” Alec says. 

“Oh my god you’re boyfriends? That’s amazing Alec I’m so happy for you” Izzy says, jumping off the bench to give him a hug. 

“Thanks” he smiles. “But I really have to go shower and get to work, don’t touch my coffee I’ll be coming back for it”. 

“Please as if I would touch that thing. You make the worst coffee in the history of mankind” Izzy says in mild disgust. 

Alec shrugs and heads to the shower, thankful that is it for once free. 

He makes it to work with 5 minutes to spare and mentally congratulates himself. His boss was on till today so he greets him and heads to the back, to the box of books needing to be sorted and put on shelves. There are a lot of them so it takes him almost 2 hours. 

He’s not really paying attention to what he’s doing. Instead he’s is thinking about last night. How Magnus’ hands – and lips - felt on his body. This time yesterday he was a ball of anxiety and now he just feels…content; happy. He couldn’t ever remember liking someone this much. Not even his high school boyfriend, and they had dated for a year. He was just so comfortable around Magnus. He felt like he truly could trust him. He realises he’s smiling to himself like an idiot and schools his features into a more appropriate expression for book sorting. 

At around 11 he gets the first text from Magnus of one of the outfits for his upcoming movie. 

Alec nearly falls out of his chair. 

Magnus is in dark jeans, with a tie and bowtie and…nothing else. 

From: Magnus  
Did I mention that I’m playing a stripper in my upcoming movie?

To: Magnus  
No. No you didn’t. That’s…wow

From: Magnus  
Stay tuned for more looks. 

Alec is pulled away from his intense study of Magnus’ ‘outfit’ when his phone rings. The number shows that it is Raf’s school.

“Fuck what now” Alec mutters as he answers immediately. 

“Hello this is Alec.”

“Hello Mr. Lightwood. This is Principal Turner. I am calling to inform you that Rafael needs to be picked up as soon as possible. There has been an outbreak of head lice in Rafael’s class and about half of the class are being sent home. This is imperative as we don’t want the lice to spread around the entire school” Mr Turner says in a clipped tone.

“Uh okay sure I’ll get someone to come and get him now” Alec says. 

“Thank you Mr. Lightwood” he says and then the line goes dead.

Alec thinks of which of his siblings would be available to pick up Rafael. He knows that Simon has a test and Jace is teaching a class that he can’t just leave in the middle of so he rules them out. That leaves Izzy and Maia who were both at work. 

He tries calling Izzy and Maia a couple of times each with no success. 

“Shit” Alec says. 

“Is something wrong son?” Mr. Johnson says as he pops his head around one of the book shelves. 

“Oh sorry. Umm no. Just my brother needs to be picked up from school but all my family are working”. 

“You need to leave? That is not a problem. It’s a slow day anyways” his boss says with a kind smile. 

“Are you sure?” Alec asks uncertainly.

“Of course! You’re a great employee Alec, always on time, never taking days off. It’s the least I can do. Take the rest of the day off, I have everything covered here” He says. 

“Thank you so much, I’ll see you next shift” Alec says, hurrying out the door and heading for the subway. 

He’s on the Subway when he receives another text from Magnus. It’s another picture, but this time it’s of a bagel with cream cheese and smoked salmon on it.

From: Magus  
Lunch break! I love craft services! How is work Alexander?

To: Magnus  
Work is no more. Just received a call from Raf’s school: there’s been a lice outbreak so I’m going to pick him up. Pretty glamourous life I lead hey?

From: Magnus   
Poor Raf! I just have to try on a couple of outfits before I can leave. Want me to come help you get rid of the little critters?

To: Magnus   
Wait…really? Lice treatment isn’t exactly a fun date idea.

From: Magnus   
I don’t mind! And besides, then I’ll get to see you 

To: Magnus   
Okay, sure then! See you soon 

Alec smiles to himself as he walks through the gates to Rafael’s school, suddenly in a way better mood. 

When Alec gets to the school he’s forced to sit through a 45-minute head lice removal video that not only goes through how to remove them, but also what they are, how they spread and where they originated from. Alec almost falls asleep. This was not his first rodeo. He knew how to remove lice like a professional these days. Max had had them at least 3 times and Raf once before. Kids were gross sometimes.

Raf is actually in good spirits when Alec picks him up, telling Alec that he would be missing a math quiz that they had on this afternoon. Apparently he was convinced that the outbreak had started with Jimmy, the kid who was always picking his nose and putting the boogers on the underside of his desk. 

“That’s disgusting”.

“I know! And he’s mean too. He said girls shouldn’t play soccer and pushed Sadie over even though she’s the best in our class!’ Raf says indignantly. 

“Well that’s not very nice. Was Sadie okay?” Alec asks. 

“Yeah Jimmy got in trouble and then Sadie ended up scoring 3 goals”. 

“Well that’s good. Go Sadie!” Alec says. 

When they arrive at their house Magnus is on their front steps with a bag in his hands. 

“Hey guys! I’m here to help with the lice removal party. I got 3 different kinds of treatment. Also sandwiches. Also candy” Magnus says, kissing Alec’s cheek. 

“Yum candy!” Rafael exclaims happily, running through the door that Alec opens for him. Alec stays on the porch to talk to Magnus. 

“That’s so much for this. You really didn’t have to. I was just going to use conditioner and a lice comb” Alec laughs. 

“I wanted to. And that takes way longer. You have to kill them as well as remove them” Magnus says. 

“How do you know all this?” Alec asks.

“My god daughter Madzie got them a few months ago. I helped Cat get rid of them” Magnus says. 

“Hmm interesting” Alec says. 

“And just why is that interesting Alexander” Magnus says, circling his hands around Alec’s neck. Alec returns the favour by placing his hands on Magnus’ hips.

“Who would have thought Mr. Hollywood would be in the know about the best lice treatments” Alec teases. 

“First of all, that is just inaccurate! I live in New York not Hollywood. Second of all, I’ll have you know that I possess many talents that you have yet to learn of”.

“Hmm is that right? Like stripping perhaps”. 

“Knew you’d have something to say about that” Magnus laughs. 

“If anything I’m excited. I’ll get to these on the big screen” he says putting his hand over Magnus’ chest. 

“Alexander are you flirting with me? I am shook” Magnus says causing Alec to roll his eyes.

“Shut up let’s go inside” Alec says, dragging Magnus in the door and shutting it. 

It takes them about an hour to de-lice Raf who was surprisingly content, sat on the side of the bath tub eating candy the whole time. 

“I’ll be calling you at 10 tonight when he’s bouncing off the walls from a sugar high” Alec says. 

“I will not be held responsible for that Alexander. Sugar rushes are a myth I’ll have you know”. 

“Are you serious? Here I was thinking sugar was the cause of Max’s…umm…overenthusiasm when he was little. Turns out he was just crazy” Alec laughs. 

“Nothing wrong with a little excitement” Magnus counters. 

When they finish up, Raf drags them to the couch to watch Zootopia, which Alec has seen about 10 times by now. He’s pretty sure he could do all the voices if he tried. Which he would never do. Obviously. 

At some point, they must have fallen asleep, because Alec wakes when he hears giggling.   
He opens his eyes and comes face to face with the two rather large grins of his sisters’, both holding their phones up to him and Magnus. Magnus is still asleep and is resting his head on Alec’s shoulder. 

“Um can you not?” Alec asks with a thick voice. 

“You guys are adorable” Izzy whispers. “What are you doing home? We saw that we both had a missed call from you but we were flat out all day”.

“Raf had to be picked up from school. Lice outbreak” Alec says. “Now fuck off please”. 

“Touchy touchy. I guess you better let your man sleep. I hear he had a big night last night” Maia says while her and Izzy giggle their way to their room like 5 year olds. 

Alec let’s Magnus sleep. It seems that Raf was tired too because he is asleep against a pillow on the other side of the couch. 

Magnus wakes up about 15 minutes later and then has to leave to go to Catarina’s house for dinner. 

“Thank you for coming today Magnus” Alec says as he walks him to the door. 

“It was my pleasure. Who knew lice treatment could be so fun” he says as he leans in for a kiss. 

Alec watches Magnus get into his cab, postponing having to go inside to face the teasing that he was almost certainly about to endure from Isabelle and Maia.


	23. #Malec

“Holy shit”   
  
“What?”   
  
“Have you seen this” Jace gestures to the laptop that is on his lap. Alec is 99% sure that he’s been hacking into the neighbours WIFI again.   
  
“You’re a meme” Jace says in awe.   
  
“A meme? What on earth are you talking about?”  
  
“You’re all over twitter”.   
  
Alec’s stomach does s swoopy thing. How could he be all over twitter? No one even knew who he was. At least he hoped.   
  
“Give it here” Alec says. He refreshes the twitter page.   
  
“Holy shit” Alec says.   
  
“I know right”.  
  
Both #MagnusBane and #MagnusBoyfriend are trending. He clicks on the latter and see’s that there are countless tweets about them. People are saying things like ‘omg they are SO cute! I literally want to die’, ‘I cannot cope with Magnus and his boyfriend they are too cute’, and his personal favourite; ‘Magnus’ boyfriend is unbelievably hot. What I wouldn’t do to climb him like a tree’.   
  
Alec’s face goes instantly red. How did this even happen? There must be a picture somewhere. He scrolls down a bit and bingo; there is a picture of him and Magnus. They are on the small front porch to their house. Magnus has his hands around Alec’s neck and Alec has his hands on Magnus’ hips. They are smiling at each other. There is even a meme version of the picture that says ‘I want someone to look at me the way Magnus looks at his new boyfriend’. There’s also another one that has 3 people in it, one is walking away from the other two people and is labelled ‘Magnus’ Boyfriend’ one is looking at the person walking away and smiling and is labelled ‘Magnus’ and the other one is scowling and is labelled ‘Camille’.  
  
Alec doesn’t know whether he wants to throw the laptop at the wall or cry. Whoever took this picture knows where they all live now. Thank god the picture is close enough that other people won’t be able to see where they live. Aside from the fact that this would increase the chances of someone finding out about Raf, Alec was a very private person and the last thing he wanted was a picture of him kissing boyfriend plastered all over the internet.   
  
Alec is grateful for the fact that everyone else in the house is asleep. This is a lot to process and it would be even harder if he had all his siblings weighing in on the situation.   
He’s pulled from his thoughts when his phone starts ringing. Magnus’ name shows up on the screen. He picks up immediately and walks into their room where he can hear Simon’s shockingly loud snores.   
  
“Alexander, did you see twitter? I’m so sorry. I didn’t think anyone had followed me or knew where I was when I went to your house”.  
  
“It’s okay. I mean it’s not ideal but I knew something like this would happen eventually” Alec says tiredly.   
  
“Has anyone recognised it was you yet?”.  
  
“No, the only person who’s seen it is Jace” Alec says.   
  
“Maybe we can just hang out at my apartment from now on and not be seen in public together?” Magnus suggests.  
  
“No it’s okay, I don’t want us to have to hide. What kind of relationship would that be?” Alec says honestly.   
  
“You’re amazing Alec. This can’t be easy. I really appreciate the effort you are putting in” Magnus says kindly.   
  
“It’s worth it” Alec says with a smile.  
  
“Come here so I can squeeze you” Magnus says jokingly, but then Alec says “Okay”.   
  
“Wait really? It’s 11:30pm”.  
  
“That’s okay. I can just go to college from your apartment tomorrow morning. That’s if it’s okay that I can stay over that is?” Alec asks uncertainly.   
  
“Of course! I’ll send a car to come pick you up as soon as possible. See you soon darling” Magnus says and hangs up before Alec can protest the car.   
  
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………...................................  
  
  
Getting out of bed the next day is particularly hard. Mainly because Magnus is lying almost all the way on top of him. They are also buried under Magnus’ fluffy duvet and he is deliciously warm. Magnus is trailing his hand up and down the side of his bare torso. His bed at home doesn’t even come close to being this comfortable, which admittedly, might have something to do with the fact that it is a single bed with a mattress that is at least 10 years old.   
  
“Mmm I don’t wanna go to school today” Alec says sleepily.   
  
“Don’t do it. Play hooky! We can stay in this cocoon all day. The only thing I have to do is study my lines for Magnificent Mike” Magnus says.   
  
Alec considers this for a moment. He has two lectures and an essay to work on today. Was his first lecture strictly necessary? He could always watch it online, he thinks.  
  
“You know what? Let’s do it! I’ll miss my first lecture and just go in at lunchtime for the next one” Alec says enthusiastically.   
  
“Really? Look at this new Alexander, throwing caution to the wind left right and centre! I love it” Magnus says, pressing a kiss to Alec’s chest.   
  
“I’m just so cosy, couldn’t get out of this bed if I tried”.   
  
“Ah I see, so it’s the quality of my blankets that are keeping you here” Magnus chuckles.   
  
“Yes. That and the very nice body heater I have draped across me” Alec replies.   
  
“Wow. Reduced to a body heater. I’ve never felt so useless”.  
  
“I can think of other uses for you” Alec says slyly as he reaches down to squeeze Magnus’ ass.   
  
“For that, I am happy to be of service” Magnus says flirtily.   
  
An hour later, Alec is thoroughly warmed up and starving. Nothing worked up an appetite like morning sex. Which is evident when his stomach growls rather loudly in protest of his lack of food this morning.   
  
“Hungry darling?  Shall we go make some breakfast?” Magnus asks. They have switched positions and Alec is now laying on Magnus’ chest.   
  
“Yes please” Alec says, reluctantly getting off Magnus, who hops off the bed and walks into his walk in wardrobe. He returns with two white fluffy bath robes.   
  
It turns out that Magnus makes exceptional eggs benedict, which they eat on the dining room tables, as Alec helps Magnus with his lines. Alec turns beat red when he has to say more of the more sexual lines. This movie will surely be the death of him when It comes out.  
  
Magnus already had most of his lines down, and Alec is floored by the emotion and charisma that he delivers them with.  It is with extreme reluctance that Alec leaves a couple of hours later for college.   
  
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….  
  
In Alec’s Theory of Law class, he becomes increasingly paranoid that people are looking at him way more than usual. He usually likes to sit in the back and blend in. The only two people that he really talked to were Lydia and Raj, and even then, he only talked to them about college things and sometimes studied with them.   
  
Today was different. People kept glancing over at him and whispering but Alec could never hear what they were saying. This had been going on for the past hour to the point where the lecturer had had to ask everyone to be quiet 6 times already.   
  
Alec wanted to slink out of the lecture theatre but he knew that that would only cause more staring and speculation.   
  
“Okay what gives?” Lydia asks him in their 10-minute break.   
  
“What’s wrong?” Alec asks.   
  
“Why the hell is everyone looking at you? Did you bang a professor or something?” she says as she waggles her eyebrows.   
  
“What? No of course not!” Alec says indignantly.   
  
“Well then what is it? It’s rather distracting” Lydia says.   
  
“There’s just this picture of me online that the entire world seems to have seen” Alec mumbles.  
  
“What sort of picture? Like a dick pic? I never would have thought you’d do something like that Alec! I’m scandalised” Lydia says.   
  
“A dick pic, seriously? Absolutely not” Alec says in a whisper yell.   
  
“Then what is it? I’m on the edge of my seat here, just tell me” Lydia says bossily.   
  
“It’s a picture of Magnus and I” Alec admits.   
  
“Magnus…as in Magnus Bane from Warlocks and all those movies?” she asks excitedly.  
  
“Yep that’s the one” Alec says.   
  
“What were you doing with Magnus Bane?” she asks.  
  
“We are kind of dating” Alec whispers, obviously not quietly enough because a girl next to him squeals with delight.   
  
“Omg I knew it was you! How did you meet Magnus? The photos of the two of you online are so cute! Can I actually get a picture with you? Twitter is obsessed with finding out who you are. I can’t believe Magnus’ Mystery Man is in my Theory of Law class. My friend Tom is going to flip. He’s obsessed with you. He keeps going on about how he wants to be in a relationship with both of you. At the same time” she finally finishes. Alec is just staring at her in shock. A few other people within hearing distance have turned completely around in their chairs and are listening for his answer. Why were people so obsessed with their relationship? He’s been in only two photos with Magnus and in one it was impossible to even tell that is was him. As far as Alec knew, their relationship involved two people, and everyone else needed to butt out.  
  
“Umm no photo. Sorry. I uh won’t be…doing that” Alec says awkwardly, causing the girls face to fall. Thankfully he is saved when the professor starts up the lecture again. He turns to give Lydia a look and sees her looking just as bemused as him by this attention.   
  
When the lecture is over Alec says a quick goodbye to Lydia and rushes out the door, not wanting anyone else to talk to him about the pictures. He heads to the library to drown out his thoughts with a particularly tough assignment.  
  
A couple hours later his brain feels like it might explode; all of the knowledge that he’s acquired threatening to get lost in the explosion. He decides he’s deserving of a break and puts his head on the cool table surface. This only lasts a couple of minutes before he’s bored again, having actually gotten lots of sleep last night.  
  
So he does something stupid. He opens twitter. Alec had never been one to stay up to date with anything pop culture related. But it was hard to not be curious when the topic of conversation on everyone’s lips was himself and his relationship with Magnus.  
  
When he opens his twitter his mouth almost falls open. The buzz has not dies down from yesterday; if anything it’s blown up even more. They are still trending on twitter but there are now 3 hashtags relating to them that are trending: ‘MagnusBane’ is still trending along with ‘MagnusBaneBoyfriendSpotted’ and lastly ‘Malec’ which Alec is familiar with thanks to Isabelle.   
  
Alec clicks on the second one. It all seems to have stemmed from a tweet from @MelissaBaker that says says: ‘Just spotted @MagnusBane’s ‘Mystery Man’. He’s in my Theory of Law class. Pretty sure his name is Alec. Tried to get a picture with him but no luck! #MagnusBaneBoyfriendSpotted  
  
There are thousands of replies and retweets. Alec’s head spins as he quickly reads through some of them:  
  
Replying to @MelissaBaker: Omg I’m so jealous! Is he as dreamy as he is in the pictures?  
  
Replying to @MelissaBaker: Magnus and Alec! Malec! What a cute ship name #Malec  
  
Replying to @MelissaBaker: Petition to make a game out of trying to spot Alec on campus??? He’s so hot! # Malec #SoCute  
  
The Malec hashtag seems to have taken on a mind of its own, with thousands of tweets including it. Alec reads through a few of these too:  
  
@Mr.MagnusBane: Can’t believe Magnus is dating a law student. I thought he just dated model’s and actors. Maybe us peasants have a chance #MarryMeMagnus  
  
Replying to @Mr.MagnusBane: Hell no! #Malec is my OTP. Their love is undying. They’re going to get married, I’m calling it right now #Malec   
  
There’s also a few less than positive tweets talking about how Alec isn’t good enough for Magnus and how he should be dating someone in the business, not just ‘some law student’. Alec is overwhelmed once again by the intense interest that people are showing in his and Magnus’ relationship. He looks around to see if anyone is looking at him but is relieved to find that most people are either talking to friends or studiously typing on computers.   
  
Alec breathes a sigh of relief and closes twitter, getting back to work. He’s distracted once again when he receives a text from Magnus.  
  
From: Magnus  
So, Malec huh? I think it has a certain ring to it. But I’m sorry that people are recognising you at college. That must be tough. Come over tonight and I’ll cook you an apology dinner?  
  
Alec smiles at the adorable message. Although his life seems to have completely changed over the course of a couple of weeks, Alec doesn’t regret it. Magnus has made him so unbelievably happy. He couldn’t imagine breaking it off just because he is receiving a little unwanted attention from random strangers. Surely people would get over this soon enough, that’s the way these things worked; they blew up for a few days or weeks and then everyone moved on to the next big thing. Granted, Alec couldn’t wait for that day, but he would just have to suck it up for the moment until that happened. 


	24. Ellen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is just a little fluffy chapter because the next chapter will be full of drama, sorry ;)

This was torture, Alec decided; a common thought that he had when forced into doing various things by his siblings. He was sandwiched between Izzy and Simon on the couch. Jace and Maia were also flanking them, making it an extremely cosy affair. The reason for this torture? Ellen. Magnus had done an interview with her a few days ago and it had aired today. They’d all been at college or work so they hadn’t been able to watch it. A fact that Alec had been grateful for. That is until he had come home from work and was told that they were having an Ellen viewing party. 

Despite his best efforts, they had not taken his advice to get a life and watch it in their own time. He’d considered locking himself in his room and not watching, but the thought of his siblings knowing something that he didn’t unsettled him deeply. So here he was, sat in front of the coffee table where their only laptop sat. Jace had illegally downloaded the episode using the neighbors WIFI. Honestly, Alec was just waiting for the day that their neighbor figured out what they had been doing and came over to angrily bang on their door. 

“Okay you guys ready? I’m pressing play” Izzy says from her spot next to Alec. She’s holding a giant bowl of popcorn like they are about to have a movie marathon. The episode is only 40 minutes long for god sake. 

“Hell yes” Maia says, at the same time that Alec says “please no”.

“You think you’d be excited to see your boyfriend doing an interview” Jace says. 

“I’m not excited to watch it with you guys, that’s the problem” Alec grumbles. 

“Tough, it’s happening” Izzy says, pressing play. 

Now, Alec isn’t a monster; he enjoys Ellen. But watching his boyfriend on the show, while flanked by 70% of his siblings was not his idea of fun. 

The intro that Ellen does is fairly painless. There are only a few wolf whistles from Izzy and Maia when Ellen introduces who the guests will be. The guests are Hailee Steinfeld and Magnus. She starts out by saying “Hailee Steinfeld is here because she’s just released a new single that has climbed the charts in just a few days. And Magnus Bane is here. He’s here because he’s super hot and my audience deserves the very best”. The audience goes wild at this. She continues on with, “also he’s on one of my favorite shows, Warlock’s, that I’m very sad is about to wrap for the season”. 

The show continues on from there with a heart-warming story about a child who saved his own mother and also an audience game. 

When it’s time for Magnus to be introduced, Alec sits straighter in his seat. 

“Our first guest is the star of the magical show, Warlocks, and he is also set to star in the upcoming movie Magnificent Mike which is about strippers. I know you guys are excited to see him. Please welcome, Magnus Bane” Ellen says as the audience jump out of their seats in excitement.

Magnus comes out dancing and Alec almost goes into cardiac arrest; not for the first time when concerning Magnus' sexiness. Alec knew that Magnus had been training for Magnificent Mike the past couple of weeks and that he had had a background in dancing. He’s danced in high school and had been on a show that was dance-centric, but Alec had never seen him dance before. A fact that he was beginning to regret immensely as he sees Magnus dance his way towards Ellen. His body moves effortlessly and his body rolls make Alec’s face heat. 

“Damn Alec, why didn’t you tell us your man could move like that?” Simon asks. 

“I..I didn’t know” Alec chokes out. 

When Alec refocuses on the screen, Magnus has sat down on the couch and the applause has finally died down. 

“Those moves are going to come in handy for your next role, I bet! Is that what drew you to the role of Mike in Magnificent Mike?” Ellen inquires.

“Yes it was 100%. I haven’t had a role with a major dancing component in a few years and I miss it dearly” Magnus answers. 

Alec had no idea that dancing meant so much to him. 

“Are you sure it’s not just so you can remain shirtless for 3 months straight. We’ve checked your Instagram..there seems to be a pattern here” Ellen says and shows 5 consecutive pictures of Magnus in no shirt, to increasingly loud applause from the audience.

“Is this the only shirt you own?” Ellen asks jokingly, gesturing to the deep purple button up that he has on. 

Alec has been on Magnus’ Instagram, and knows that those are the only shirtless photos he has, Ellen it just trying to make it seem like all his photos are shirtless to amuse her audience. Alec can’t fault her; Magnus had incredible abs. 

The crowd most certainly agrees. It mostly consists of housewives and young women who all go crazy at the pictures. Alec find that he has a small amount of jealously bubble up at the amount of people that are lusting after his man. His man? Where had this possessive side of him come from? He pushes the thought down and continues watching. 

The rest of the interview is fairly mild, focusing on Warlocks and the upcoming season finale. Alec knows what’s coming though, Magnus had told him that Ellen had asked about their relationship and had asked Alec before they taped the show how much he should say. Alec had just told him to go with his gut and say what came naturally. A lot of people already knew about them at this point. Alec had been starting to come to terms with it over the past couple of weeks. 

As they go on about Warlocks, Alec is lulled into a false sense of security. Maybe they hadn’t included anything about Magnus and Him. But then Ellen - seemingly out of nowhere - asks the dreaded question: “so let’s talk about your love life shall we?”.

Magnus looks as if he is also taken by surprise the sudden change of topic. 

He puts on an overly exaggerated suspicious looking face and says “okay…” earning a laugh from the audience. 

“Come on, they want to know, right guys?” Ellen addresses the audience, to thunderous applause.

“Okay ask away, but I can’t promise anything” Magnus winks. 

“Are you seeing anyone at the moment?” she asks. 

“Define seeing someone?” Magnus asks cheekily. 

“Well we’ve got hard evidence here, you can’t really deny this picture” Ellen says. The photo of them on Alec’s front porch shows up on the screen. 

“What? You mean you guys don’t hug all your friends like that?” Magnus says with a laugh. 

“It’s not really the hugging that clued us in, it’s more the lovingly staring into each other’s eyes. So who is he? He’s not in the business which is very unusual for an actor to date. Where did you guys meet?” Ellen asks eagerly. 

“Let’s just say that he’s someone very special to me and leave it at that. We actually met by complete accident when I was trying to get away from this bunch of girls who were chasing me”.

“That sounds like a movie” Ellen says. 

“It really was” Magnus says with a fond smile on his face.

“Well I think that’s all we are going to get out of him guys, so now’s a perfect time to go to break. When we come back we will be joined by Hailee Steinfeld”. Ellen says. Alec breathes a sigh of relief as Izzy reaches over to pause the show. 

“Well that was fucking cute” she says. 

“That definitely could have gone a lot worse bro” Jace says. Alec has to agree with him. It wasn’t ideal that his face had been on national TV but it was already all over twitter anyway so it didn’t really make a difference. He had been getting recognized a bit at uni and on the street lately, but he usually just denied that the photos were him which worked out fine.

“Damn Malec is definitely winning in the race for the cutest couple in the house. Saphael are a close second. Jordan and Maia are coming in at a close third because they haven’t defined the relationship yet”. 

“What about me and Clary?” Jace asks. 

“Excuse me what?” Alec asks with wide eyes. 

“Uh we may have gone on a date last week” Jace says guilty. 

“For fucks sakes Jace, if you have sex with her and never call her again I will kill you. That’s Magnus' little sister” Alec says angrily. 

“I won’t. I really like her. We’ve been texting and talking a lot. I’m not going to hurt her” Jace says sincerely. Alec looks at him and sees the honest expression on his face, deciding to trust him. 

“Wow. I’m literally the only single one, with no prospects. How did this happen?” Isabelle asks in distress. 

“Maybe you should stop fucking around with Meliorn and go on a date with someone who is actually deserving of you” Jace says. Alec and Simon nod in approval.

“You may just be right for once Jace, Meliorn is pissing me off lately” Izzy agrees. 

“Anyways, back to Malec. You should go call him and tell him how cute that was” Maia suggest. 

Alec agrees. He hadn’t talked to Magnus today anyway which was not okay with him, he wanted to hear his boyfriends voice. And maybe question Magnus about why he had been holding back his incredible dancing skills from him. It was just rude, Alec thinks to himself as he walks to his room and slams the door, dialing Magnus’ number with a smile on his face.


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took a while, I got distracted by writing two other stories whoops.

Alec is woken – for the third time – by Rafael poking his face with his little fingers.

“Please 10 more minutes” Alec begs. 

“You said that the last two times, I wanna open my presents” he whines. 

The first time Raf had woken Alec it had been at 5:30am. Simon had slept right through it of course, and Jace had just rolled over and put a pillow over his head. 

It was now 5:50 and Alec would sell his soul for an hour more sleep. At least it was an improvement on last year when they’d all been dragged out of bed by a 7-year old Raf at 5am on the dot. They’d needed a lot of coffee to get through that morning. 

Raf is now lightly slapping and squeezing his cheeks.

“Okay okay, I’m coming. Go wake up Jace” Alec says, intent on making a huge pot of coffee. He sees Raf climb up the ladder to their bunk bed with a smirk on his face. Alec grins; Someone else should have to endure the annoying, albeit adorable, wake-up techniques of Raf. 

Max won’t admit it but he’s just as excited to open his presents as Raf is, which is obvious from the fact that he is on the couch waiting for everyone else to wake up so they can get started. 

“Merry Christmas” Alec says, walking over to Max to press a kiss to the top of his head.

“Can I task you with waking up Izzy and Maia? Raf is working on waking up Jace and Maia” Alec says. 

Max doesn’t have to be told twice, springing from the couch to wake the undoubtedly peacefully sleeping duo. They had all stayed up until almost 1 last night watching Christmas movies. The lounge room had been even more packed than usual, with the additions of Magnus, Clary, Rafael and Jordan. They’d piled onto the couch and matresses and bean bags on the floor, a few of them having to sit on another’s lap. Izzy had spent almost the entire time complaining about being a 9th wheel but other than that it had been one of the best nights of Alec’s life. 

After lunch with his family today, last night’s company were going to come back for a repeat of thanksgiving. Magnus and Clary were going to be bringing some board games from their apparently extensive collection.

“Okay Christmas is supposed to be fun, why must be wake up at the crack of dawn every year” Maia complains as she trudges out of her room wearing a blanket like a cape, Izzy trailing behind her in a Christmas themed onesie. 

“Because presents!” Raf answers simply. He’s dragging a bleary eyed Simon and Jace to the living room, where Max is already sitting impatiently at the foot of the tree. 

Alec pours 5 cups of coffee and hands them out to his rather grateful siblings. 

“Okay let’s get this show on the road” he says, sitting on the couch next to Maia. 

He knows some families have a present opening system but they usually just let Raf and Mac go wild, opening all their presents first. Then the older siblings could give each other presents. 

Paper goes flying as the boys tear into their presents. Alec always gets a little nervous that they won’t like their gifts. Alec, Izzy and Jace had usually only gotten one present each and it was often something that they had no interest in. One year he’d received a book on insects; A couple of other years they’d received nothing at all. Maia had had a similar experience. Simon had loved spending time with his family during Hanukkah growing up but that all changed when he was kicked out of the house at 16 and never spoken to again by his family. So Alec and his siblings wanted Christmas to be special for the boys, and they had been collecting bits and pieces for them all year. There was a substantial pile of presents under the tree that Alec was proud of. 

The boys seemed happy with their choices if the huge smiles and giggles were anything to go by. Alec breathed a sigh of relief. Part one of the Lightwood-Lewis-Roberts Christmas was a success. 

There was less of a focus on the older siblings presents but everyone seemed pleased with their hauls anyway. Alec had gotten a nice scarf and pair of gloves from Simon, some cologne from Izzy, a sweater from Maia and a wallet from Jace. He loved them all.

Izzy also buys them all an ugly Christmas sweater and forces them all to wear them. Alec isn’t surprised; she does it every year. His is red with green stripes and has a reindeer on it, complete with a protruding glittery red nose. It’s the most color he’s worn all year.

After opening presents and sitting around for a couple of hours watching the boys play and drinking hot chocolate, Alec, Maia and Jace head to the kitchen to prepare Christmas lunch. Isabelle is under strict orders to not enter the kitchen all day and Simon has disappeared to call Raphael.

Alec had received a message from Magnus that morning. It was a picture of him and Clary. It seemed that they had also jumped on the ugly Christmas sweater bandwagon, but with the addition or reindeer ears and in Magnus’ case, red glittery eye shadow. Alec had laughed and sent one back of his own hideous sweater, complete with an unamused expression. 

Alec, Jace and Maia spend a couple of hours cooking everything. They make a turkey with stuffing, roast vegetables, cranberry sauce, ham and mashed potato. They even make two different types of Christmas cookies. Alec has been looking forward to this for weeks, as it’s the one time that they go all out. After the table is set, they all sit down at the table and dig in, table manners all but forgotten in Max and Simon’s case.

 

Alec feels as if he could burst at any moment. He’d piled his plate high with a bit of everything that they had made and had even went to town on the cookies. His stomach now looked as if he was harboring a food baby, or maybe food twins. So when there is a knock on the door he is quick to say, “shotgun not me”. Everyone apart from Isabelle is quick to follow suit, which results in a grumble and a groan from her as she gets up to answer the door, waddling as if she’s nine months pregnant.

Alec looks up curiously from where he’s still sat at the table to see who it is; Magnus and co were not due to arrive for another hour. When Izzy swings the door open with a smile on her face, all the blood drains from Alec’s body and the smile on Izzy’s face is quickly replaced into shellshock. Alec seems to go into the fight of fight response within seconds, his heart rate speeding up and his mouth going dry. His thoughts seem to slow down and he has no idea how long he stares wide eyed at the open door. 

“Well aren’t you going to greet your mother Isabelle?” Marys asks indignantly, with an impatient expression on her face. That sends Alec flying out of his chair, the fullness of his stomach completely forgotten. 

“What are you doing here?” he snaps. 

“I came to see my children for Christmas, is that a crime?” she asks in an outraged tone. 

“What are you doing here?” Alec repeats, not accepting the load of shit that just came out of Maryse’s mouth. 

“Did you not hear me Alec? I came to see you” Maryse says in a softer tone that seems utterly forced. 

“How do you even know where we live?” Alec spits back.

“Well I called the foster system and asked them if they had the correct address, they were more than happy to give me the address that they think I’m currently residing in” Maryse says smugly. 

“What do you want?” Alec asks, getting straight back to the point. 

“Aren’t you going to invite your mother in? It’s awfully cold out here” Maryse asks.

“No. Leave now” Alec says, going to close the door in her face.

“I need money” Maryse yells, slamming her palm against the closing door. 

“We don’t have any money. We have to spend every last cent raising the children that you abandoned” Alec says.

“Don’t you have jobs?” Maryse asks. 

“Yes we do. But paying rent and buying food costs money. We aren’t giving a cent to you. I’ve been working since I was 14 to support this family; A family that you are no longer a part of. Leave” Alec says. 

“I’ll tell them about Raf” Maryse says in a measured tone, her voice dripping with malice. Alec’s body goes cold. Even though he had known in the back of his mind that there was a possibility that this day would come, it still shocks him to his core when Maryse says those five words.

“You aren’t supposed to have him. I’ll tell them and they will take him away. Who would give a foster child to a 22-year old with a perverse lifestyle?” she spits angrily. From the corner of his eye, Alec sees Maia and Simon take Raf and Max and lead them into their room. He’s relived when he hears their door shut, they did not need to hear this shit.

“Perverse lifestyle? Glad to see you are still the same ignorant bitch that walked out on us four years ago” Isabelle pipes up. 

“How could I not? You were all wild, ungrateful little brats. Always asking me for things and never giving anything in return”. 

“We were kids; You were our mother. You were supposed to support us” Isabelle says, with tears in her eyes. Alec puts a hand around her shoulder to comfort her. She’d had the hardest time out of all of them when Maryse left. 

Jace makes his way over to the door, standing tall and aiming a glare at Maryse. “Look, we aren’t giving you any money. We don’t have any. So you need to leave or we will call the police” Jace says in tone that would send anyone but Maryse in a scramble to get away. 

“Fine. But you’d better say your goodbyes to Raf and maybe even Max. Someone will probably be by to pick them up by tomorrow. I sure as hell won’t be taking them” she says with an evil grin as she starts to walk away. She takes out her phone and begins to dial a number. 

Alec’s mind races. Although he had anticipated this exact situation happening at some point, he had never really thought about what he would do. As he watched Maryse get further and further down their street Alec decides he doesn’t want to risk it. 

“Wait!” he yells after Maryse, causing her to halt and turn back to the house. 

“Yes?” she asks with a sly smile that makes Alec’s blood boil. 

“What are you doing Alec? We are not giving that embodiment of Satan any money. We can work this out” Jace says. 

“He’s right Alec. We’ve been putting this off for years. Let’s do this the right way. You can adopt Max and Raf. It will be fine” Izzy agrees. 

Alec pinches the bridge of his nose and takes a deep breath. He’s about to give in to Maryse when she decides to open her mouth again. 

“You know they won’t let you adopt them Alec. The way you live your life is just disgusting. No one would let a child be exposed to that unnaturalness” she spits. 

Alec gives her one last look and makes his decision; he slams the door shut with a deafening bang. 

“Merry Christmas to us” Alec says, his voice cracking, as they all stare at the closed door in shock. 

“We need to go talk to Max and Raf. They are probably terrified” Isabelle says. Alec and Jace agree and they all head to the boys’ room. When they open the door they find Max, Raf, Maia and Simon on the floor playing a game of Uno. Alec smiles sadly at the sight. There was no way that he was going to lose this. They were a family. Sure, they weren’t the normal definition of a family with 2.5 kids and a golden retriever, but they loved each other and would always be there for each other. If anyone tried to take that away from them, Alec was sure as hell going to put up a fight. 

“Hey guys, who’s winning?” Alec asks, trying to ignore what just happened altogether. 

“Alec, is someone going to take me away?” Raf asks, tears welling up in his eyes instantly. Alec’s heart breaks and he sits down cross-legged on the floor, pulling the crying boy into his lap. 

“No way little man. I won’t let that happen. Ever. You are staying right here with us, where you belong” Alec says. 

“Promise?” Raf asks in a small voice. 

“We promise Raf. Maryse is just not a very good person and is trying to hurt us by threatening to take you away because we love you very much. We are not going to let that happen though” Izzy adds. 

“What would this house be without you, little one?” Jace says, ruffling the boy’s hair. Raf has stopped crying now and has a small smile on his face. 

“How about we get this games night started hey?” Alec says, locking eyes with his siblings. They make a silent agreement to not talk about this again until both the boys are asleep. It would not be fair on the boy’s if their whole Christmas was ruined by Maryse. 

Alec lifts Raf up and they all head back to the dining table, Alec pasting a fake smile on his face and trying to push the thoughts of losing Raf away.

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know if theres anything I can improve please :)


End file.
